>     )  .  0 


Nf 


Columbia  Sanibcrsfitp 
in  tJje  Citp  of  j^etD  gorfe 

^cjjool  of  3©ental  anb  (Btal  ^urgerp 


l^eference  Eibrarp 


^^- 


.i^^ 


^ 


v 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONS 

IN  SWALLOWING,  BREATHING  AND  THE  PRODUCTION  OF 

THE  VOICE. 


BY 


LOUIS  ELSBERG,  A.M.,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Laryngology  and  Diseases  of  the  Throat  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 

University  of  New  York;   Professor  of  Comparative   Laryngology  in  Columbia 

Veterinary   College;      Lecturer  on  Throat  Diseases   in  Dartmouth    Medical 

College,  Woman's  Medical  College,  etc. ;    Physician  to  Charity  Hospital 

(Throat  Ward) ;  President  of  the  American  Laryngological  Association, 

Member  of  the  New  York  Laryngological  Society  ;  Member  of  the 

American   Academy   of    Medicine,     New    York   Academy   of 

Medicine,  American  Medical  Association,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 


LECTURE    DELIVERED    IN    THE    HALL     OF     THE     YOUNG     MEN'S     CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION,    FEBRUARY    2$,     1879,    BEING    ONE    OF    A    COURSE 
OF    POPULAR-SCIENTIFIC   LECTURES    INSTITUTED    BY 
THE  NEW   YORK   ACADEMY  OF   SCIENCES. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


NEW  YORK 
P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 
182  Fifth  Avenue 
1880 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/throatitsfunctioOOelsb 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FIGURE 


PAGE 

1.  View  of  parts  seen  when  the  mouth  is  widely  opened  .  .       6 

2.  Diagram  showing  the  food  and  air  tracks  ...  8 

3.  Diagram   of  the   pharynx,   oesophagus  and   commencement    of   the 

stomach,  seen  from  the  back     .  .  .  .  -13 

4.  A  connected  view  of  the  hyoid  bone,  thyroid  body,  larynx,  windpipe 

with  its  ramifications,  and  lungs,  the  latter  partly  in  outline,  partly 

in  sectional  view      ,  .  .  .  .  .  -23 

5.  Section  through  head  and  neck      .  .  .  .  -25 

6.  Diagram  of  two  primary  lobules  of  the  lungs,  magnified        .  .     26 

7.  View  of  a  portion  of  the  trachea  ....  28 

8.  Framework  of  the  larynx,  as  seen  from  behind  .  .  -29 

9.  Diagram  of  cartilages  and  intrinsic  muscles  of  the  larynx      .  .     32 

10.  View  of  the  interior  of  the  larynx,  the  posterior  half  being  cut  away     34 

11.  Vocal  portion  of  the  elastic  membrane  of  the  larynx,  in  connection 

with  the  cartilages,  seen  from  above  .  .  .  •     3^ 

12.  Laryngeal  mirror,  one-half  of  actual  dimensions  ;  and  three  mirror- 

surfaces  of  actual  size  .  .  .  .  .  .40 

13.  Manner  of  holding  the  tongue  and  laryngeal  mirror         .  .  41 

14.  Manner  of  using  the  complete  laryngoscopic  apparatus  .  .     43 

15.  Throat  educator,  one-half  actual  size         ....  44 

16.  Image  of  the  larynx  and  surrounding  parts,  twice  the  actual  size  .     45 

17.  Laryngoscopic  image,  showing  the  bifurcation  of  the  trachea       .  47 

18.  Larynx  of  patient  with  double  voice  .  .  .  .  -47 
ig.     Trachoma  of  the  vocal  bands         .....  4^ 

20.  Tumor  growth  in  the  larynx    .              .              .             .             .  -48 

21.  Autograph  of  a  sounding  tuning  fork      .               ...  50 

22.  Singing  bar  of  copper  placed  on  block  of  lead            .             .  -5^ 

23.  Card  held  against  revolving  toothed  wheel             ...  54 

24.  Simplest  form  of  the  siren       .             .             .             .             .  -54 

25.  Helmholtz's  resonators      ......  5^ 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONS. 

A    LECTURE. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — Many  of  you  know,  but  most 
of  you  probably  do  not  know,  that  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
under  whose  auspices  we  are  here  assembled,  is  one  of  the 
oldest  scientific  societies  among  us.  Under  the  name  of 
"  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,"  it  has  existed  since  the  early 
part  of  this  century,  and  for  over  fifty  years  has  been  pub- 
lishing from  time  to  time  its  annals,  "  to  record  "  as  was  said 
in  an  old  advertisement,  "  new  and  valuable  facts  in  natural 
history,  and  to  advance  the  public  good  by  the  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge." 

About  three  years  ago,  the  Lyceum,  like  a  young  lady  on 
getting  married,  changed  its  name,  to  increase  its  sphere  of 
action  and  usefulness.  Last  year,  the  Academy,  recognizing 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  advances  of  science  should  not  be 
limited  to  the  narrow  circle  of  its  own  votaries,  established  a 
course  of  popular  scientific  lectures,  three  of  which  were  deliv- 
ered in  this  hall.  The  object  of  this  course  was  announced  to 
be  :  "  To  awaken  and  diffuse  an  interest  in  science  among  the 
community  at  large,  and  to  make  the  work  of  the  Academy 
more  widely  known,  and  its  claim  to  public  sympathy  and  sup- 
port more  highly  appreciated." 

In  furtherance  of  the  same  object,  the  Academy  has  now 
been  enabled  to  arrange  for  six  lectures,  the  first  of  which  was 


4  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONS. 

delivered  a  week  ago,  and  to  the  second  of  which  I  invite  your 
indulgent  attention  this  evening. 

As  I  have  professionally  the  repute  of  being  a  special  kind 
of  cut-throat,  I  have  chosen  for  my  subject,  the  Throat. 

If  you  look  in  Webster's  Dictionary  for  a  definition  of  the 
word  "  Throat,"  you  will  find  that  in  ship-builder's  and  mar- 
iner's language,  it  is  *'the  inside  of  the  knee-timber  at  the  middle 
or  turns  of  the  arm,"  and  "  that  end  of  a  gaff  which  is  next  the 
mast  ;"  also  "the  rounded  angular  point  where  the  arm  of  an 
anchor  is  joined  to  the  shank."  In  chimney-sweep's  language 
it  is  "  the  part  of  a  chimney  between  the  gathering,  or  portion 
of  the  funnel  which  contracts  in  ascending,  and  the  flue."  But 
I  am  not  going  to  talk  to  you  in  either  of  these  languages.  I 
mean  the  throat  which  is  an  integral  part  of  our  own  body. 

Usually,  in  speaking  of  a  person's  head,  we  include  both  the 
posterior  portion  which  is  the  head  proper,  and  the  anterior 
portion  or  face.  So  in  speaking  of  the  neck  (z.t'.,  the  part  of  the 
body  between  the  head  and  trunk',  we  include  the  posterior 
portion  or  neck  proper,  and  the  anterior  portion  or  throat.  The 
throat  holds  the  same  relation  to  the  neck,  that  the  face  does 
to  the  head,  and  as  there  is  no  distinct  boundary  line  between 
the  face  and  head,  so  there  is  none  between  the  throat  and 
neck.  Furthermore,  just  as  the  face  contains  in  the  mouth 
and  nose  the  commencements  of  the  passages  for  food  and 
breath,  so  the  throat  contains  their  continuations.  It  is  this 
fact  which  gives  the  throat  its  prominence  and  importance  in 
the  animal  economy. 

Swallowing  and  breathing  are  the  two  most  momentous  func- 
tions for  life,  and  the  actions  of  the  throat  in  performing  these 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONS.  5 

and  that  other  function,  of  which  the  throat  is  the  special  organ, 
namely,  the  production  of  voice^  together  with  various  modi- 
fications of  these  functions,  constitute  our  theme.  What  I 
have  to  say,  falls  therefore,  under  the  three  heads,  swallow- 
ing, breathing,  and  phonation. 

I.    SWALLOWING. 

During  health,  swallowing  is  performed  so  quickly  and  so 
easily,  that  it  seems  a  very  simple  process  ;  you  bring  a  morsel 
of  appropriate  food  or  a  drink  under  your  nose,  your  jaws  move 
apart,  your  mouth  receives  it,  a  little  muscular  action  follows, 
— and  it  has  gone  on  its  way  to  the  stomach.  Perhaps  you  ex- 
perience a  good  deal  of  pleasure  in  the  process,  if  your  appetite 
be  good  and  the  morsel  delicious  ;  but  you  would  hardly  believe 
that  the  act  of  swallowing  is  exceedingly  complicated,  that  its 
investigation  has  engaged  the  patient  research  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  physiologists  for  more  than  100  years,  and  that  the  mys- 
tery of  its  mechanism  has  been  solved,  and  the  process  thor- 
oughly understood  only  within  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

The  parts  of  the  body  specially  engaged  in  swallowing  are  : 
the  back  of  the  tongue,  the  soft  palate,  the  fauces,  the  larynx, 
the  pharynx  and  the  oesophagus  or  gullet. 

1  should  be  very  sorry  to  inflict  tedious  anatomical  details 
upon  you,  but  I  must  make  you  a  little  acquainted  with  these 
parts. 

If  you  look  either  into  your  own  mouth  widely  opened  before 
a  mirror,  or  into  a  friend's,  you  will  see  on  the  floor  of  the  mouth, 
the  tongue,  and  on  the  roof  beyond  the  hard  palate  a  cur- 
tain or  veil,  hanging  obliquely  downward  and  backward,  with 


6  THE  THROAT  AM)  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

a  small  tongue-like  appendage  in  the  middle.  This  veil 
is  the  soft  palate,  and  the  little  appendage  in  the  middle 
is  the  uvula.  From  each  side  of  the  veil,  two  folds  of 
the  mucous  membrane  emerge,  one  going  forward  to  the  side 
of  the  tongue  and  one  backward.  These  are  the  arches  of  the 
palate  ;  and  the  space  included  between  these  palatine  arches  is 
called  the  fauces.  Beyond  the  fauces,  the  space  at  the  back 
of  the  throat  is  called  the  pharynx. 


Hard  Palate. 
Soft  Palate. 


Uvula. 
Tonsil. 
Fauces. 


Anterior  pa- 
latine arch. 

Posterior  pa- 
latine arch. 


Fig.  I.     View  of  Parts  seen  when  the  mouth  is  widely  opened. 


The  tonsils,  of  which  all  of  you  have  doubtless  heard,  are 
the  two  almond-shaped  bodies,  one  situated  on  each  side  of 
the  fauces  in  the  triangular  recess  between  the  anterior  and 
posterior  arch  of  the  palate. 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS.  7 

Fig.  i  is  a  representation  of  what  is  seen  when  the  jaws  are 
widely  separated  and  the  tongue  is  lying  flat  on  the  floor  of 
the  mouth.  The  roof  of  the  mouth  is  the  palate  comprising 
two  portions,  viz.:  the  hard  and  the  soft  palate  {veluw)  ; 
the  tapering  appendage  at  the  middle  of  the  latter  is  the 
uvula.  On  each  side  of  the  base  of  the  uvula,  the  soft  palate 
forms  two  crescentic  folds,  of  which  the  front  and  narrower 
goes  to  the  side  of  the  tongue,  and  the  other,  the  broader  and 
longer  one,  to  the  side  of  the  pharynx  ;  the  first  is  called  pa- 
lato-glossal  or  anterior  palatine  arch,  the  second  palato- 
pharyngeal or  posterior  palatine  arch.  The  cavity  of 
the  mouth  is  held  to  terminate  at  an  ideal  plane  passing  through 
the  anterior  palatine  arches  ;  beyond  this,  and  to  a  plane  pass- 
ing through  the  posterior  arches,  the  straits  or  passage  leading 
to  the  back  of  the  throat  are  called  the  fauces  {istlwius 
fauciuni). 

The  pharynx  is  a  cavity  of  very  irregular  shape  extending 
from  the  base  of  the  skull  in  front  of  the  vertebral  column  or 
back-bone  down  to  a  level  with  the  fifth  vertebra  of  the  neck. 
Below  this  level  its  continuation  is  called  oesophagus.  It 
is  divisible  into  three  portions,  the  middle  of  which  is  behind 
the  mouth  and  fauces,  and  is  called  pharynx,  in  the  restricted 
sense,  or  oro-pharynx  to  distinguish  it  from  the  upper  por- 
tion or  naso-pharynx  (Fig.  v,  A)  and  lower  portion  or 
laryngo-pharynx.  (Fig.  v,  C). 

If  you  examine  Fig.  v,  or  the  simple  diagram  Fig.  ii,  (say  at 
the  intersection  of  the  dotted  and  unbroken  lines)  you  will 
see  that,  aside  from  the  track  comprising  from  behind  for- 
ward the  pharynx,  fauces  and  mouth,  there  are,  at  the  back  of 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FU^XTIO^:S. 


Fig.  II.    Diagram  showing  the  food  and  air  tracks. 


the  throat,  several  passages  leading  in  different  directions, 
viz.  :  one  upward  and  for\vr.rd  into  the  nose,  another  down- 
ward and  in  front  into  the  windpipe,  and  a  third  downward 
and  behind,   into  the  gullet. 

The  last  is  the  passage  to  be  taken  by  the  food  ;  and  if  you 
consider  that  this  food-pipe  is  situated  behind  the  wind-pipe, 
vou  will  understand  that  some  provision  must  exist  to  prevent 
the  food  from  going  the  wrong  way.     That  provision  is  simple^ 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS.  9 

yet  beautiful,  and   of  almost  unfailing  efficacy.     The   violent 
coughing  and  choking  induced  when  food  accidentally  (or  per- 
haps by  our  own  negligence  of  the  protection  provided)  passes 
into  the  wind-pipe,  are  but  a  specimen  of  the  serious  evils,  the 
unpleasantnesses  and  the  dangers  to  life,  which  would  be  con- 
tinually occurring  were  it  not   for  the  following  device.     The 
top  of  the  wind-pipe,  which  is  called  the  larynx  and  of  which  I 
shall  have  to  tell  you  a  good  deal  more  before  the  end  of  the 
lecture,  is  provided  with  a  somewhat  spoon-shaped  or  oval  lid, 
(see  Fig.  iv,  v  or  vii),  called  the  cover-cartilage,  or  epiglottis 
(from  two   Greek  words,  epi  upon  and  glottis  the   mouthpiece 
of  a  flute,  because   it   shuts   down  upon  what   we  shall  learn 
is    the    organ    of  the   voice).     This  lid   has  its  hinge  in  front, 
and   projects  upward    from    behind    the    root    of    the    tongue 
(see   Fig.  v.  or  the  diagram   Fig.  ii.       But  it  is  more  than  a 
simple   lid  ;   and  it  is  not  the  only  thing  which  prevents   food 
from   passing    into    the    wind-pipe,   for,    in    fact,   in    cases   in 
which  the    whole    upper    portion    of   the   epiglottis  has    been 
destroyed    by  disease,    patients  become  able  to  swallow   well 
enough   without   it.      The   sides  of  the   upper  portion   of  the 
larynx    approach    each    other    as  though    it    was  being   com- 
pressed laterally,  and  the  lower  projecting  portion  of  the  epi- 
glottis— its    so-called  cushion — closes  over    the   entrance    into 
the  lower  laryngeal   cavity.       There   are   therefore  here  three 
safeguards,  and  you  can  easily  understand  now  how  food  can 
pass  from  the  back  of  the  tongue   into  the  food- pipe  without 
falling  into  the  wind-pipe. 

The  passage  of  the  food  upward  into  the  nostrils  is  prevented 
by  the  soft  palate  being  raised  and  going  backward,  and  the  back 


lO  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS    FUNXTIOXS. 

wall  of  the  pharynx  coming  forward,  so  that  the  two  surfaces 
meet  and  shut  off  the  nasal  cavity  ;  besides  which,  the  posterior 
palatine  arches  to  some  extent  approximate,  like  side-curtains, 
and  form  inclined  planes,  along  the  under  surface  of  which  the 
morsel  descends. 

The  act  of  swallowing  is  divisible  into  two  periods,  the  first 
of  which  carries  the  aliment  to  the  gullet,  and  the  second  to  the 
stomach.  The  tongue  by  successive  contraction  and  eleva- 
tion from  the  tip  to  the  base  pushes  the  food  toward  the 
pharynx,  and  there  are  provided  between  the  tongue  and  the 
epiglottis  two  pits  or  depressions,  called  valleculae  or  little 
valleys,  (see  Fig.  ii  or  v),  to  act  as  receptacles  for  overflow. 
This  is  the  first  place  where  foreign  bodies  are  caught  and 
detained. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  nasal  cavity  is  shut  off,  as  just 
explained,  the  tongue-bone  (see  Figs,  iv  and  v),  and  larynx 
are  raised,  carrying  with  them  the  floors  of  the  valleculae,  so 
that  these  disappear,  and  the  larynx  is  pushed,  as  it  were, 
under  the  arched  tongue  ;  and  the  bolus  must  pass  over  the 
top  (which  is  really  the  front)  surface  of  the  epiglottis  into  the 
lower  pharynx,  where  another  pair  of  reservoirs  for  overflow 
is  provided,  called  the  pyriform  or  pear-shaped  sinuses  (see 
Fi"-.  viii).  This  is  another  place  where  foreign  bodies  are 
easily  caught  and  detained. 

The  bolus  at  this  moment  presses  the  lar\mx  forward,  but 
by  the  contraction  of  the  constrictor  muscles  of  the  phar- 
ynx, is  itself  pushed  into  the  oesophagus,  and  the  pyriform 
sinuses  are  emptied  by  the  action  of  the  palato-phar>mgeal 
muscles.     You  see,  all  this  is  the  work  of  the  muscular  con- 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS.  II 

traction  of  the  tongue,  soft  palate,  fauces,  larynx  and  pharynx, 
and  constitutes  the  first  period  of  swallowing.  The  second  is 
the  period  during  which  the  parts  hitherto  contracted,  relax. 
The  larynx  descends  and  thereby  pushes  the  bolus  a  little 
lower,  and  once  in  the  oesophagus  the  course  of  the  food  is  easy 
enough.  The  oesophagus  is  simply  a  round  tube  made  up  of 
two  rows  of  muscular  fibres,  the  outer  one  longitudinal  and  the 
inner  transverse  and  circular,  with  a  soft  moist  lining  membrane, 
which  facilitates  the  transmission  of  the  contents.  When  not 
expanded  by  the  bolus  it  is  closed  ;  i.e.,  its  back  and  front 
walls  are  in  contact  ;  its  lining  membrane  is  then  thrown  into 
longitudinal  folds,  so  that  a  cross  section  is  somewhat  star- 
shaped.  Its  position  in  relation  to  the  back-bone  is  shown  in 
the  diagram  Fig.  iii. 

The  oesophagus  reminds  one  of  the  good  and  noble  people 
that  are  sometimes  met  with  in  the  world,  whose  life  is  spent  in 
doing  good  to  others  without  a  thought  of  self.  It  has  been 
calculated  that  it  carries  more  than  two  thousand  pounds  of 
food  a   year    to    the    stomach,    retaining    nothing    for    itself. 

The  bolus,  when  introduced  into  the  gullet,  always  assumes 
the  shape  of  an  tg%  with  the  pointed  end  upward.  Even  a 
liquid — for  instance,  a  mouthful  of  water — gets  this  shape. 
The  upper  part  of  the  tube  is  stimulated  to  contract  by  the 
presence  of  the  mass,  this  contraction  pushes  the  mass  down- 
ward ;  the  portion  of  the  gullet  now  reached,  contracts  in 
its  turn  and  propels  the  mass  further ;  and  so  on  in  succes- 
sion, till  it  arrives  at  the  stomach.  This  successive  or  so-called 
peristaltic  movement  is  easily  observ-ed  in  horses  while  they  are 
drinking,  as  an  undulaton.'  or  wavy  contraction  which  proceeds 


12  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

rapidly  along  the  tube  ;  and  in  the  human  subject,  the  sounds 
which  this  movement  produces  have  recently  supplied  us  with 
a  new  and  important  means  of  diagnosis  in  cases  of  disease 
of  the  gullet — the  so-called  auscultation  of  the  oesophagus. 
The  whole  process  of  swallowing  is  peristaltic,  and  the  won- 
derful accuracy  with  which  the  parts  are  successively  brought 
into  apposition  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  we  can  swallow  an 
exceedingly  small  bolus,  as  a  very  minute  pill  or  grain  of 
seed. 

It  is  often  supposed  that  the  morsel  passes  along  the  gullet 
by  its  own  weight  ;  but  to  correct  this  error  we  need  but  recol- 
lect that  in  the  horse  and  cow,  for  example,  the  mouth  is  on  a 
level  with  the  ground  when  feeding,  and  that  the  morsel  is  con- 
sequently propelled  upward  into  the  stomach  against  its  own 
gravity.  It  is  well-known  also,  and  often  made  a  matter  of 
public  exhibition,  that  a  man  can  swallow,  even  liquids,  when 
standing  on  the  crown  of  his  head,  with  the  natural  position  of 
the  stomach  reversed. 

The  modificatio?is  of  swallowing  need  not  detain  us  long. 
Dysphagia  or  painful  swallowing  is  always  a  symptom  of  some 
diseased  condition  of  the  throat.  Choking  while  eating  is  also 
symptomatic  of  throat  disease,  but  with  the  parts  perfectly 
healthy  it  is  caused,  when  the  person  laughs  or  talks,  or 
breathes,  while  in  the  act  of  swallowing, — sometimes  from  mere 
inattention  or  a  sudden  shock  or  mental  impression.  I  have 
been  at  a  dinner  table  at  which  a  gentleman  got  a  piece  of  meat 
lodged  in  one  of  the  valleculae,  which  so  completely  pressed 
down  the  epiglottis  that  breathing  was  stopped.  The  gentle- 
man became  dark  in  the  face,  and  in   all   human  probability 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS, 


13 


P^iG.  III.     Diagram  of  the  pharynx,  cesophagus,  and  commence- 
ment OF  THE   STOMACH,    SEEN   FROM   THE  BACK. 

a.  Marks  a  level  at  about  five-eighths  of  an  inch  below  the 
external  protuberance  of  the  occipital  bone. 

b.  Shows  the  pharynx,  which  becomes  narrow  and  forms 

the  oesophagus  at  about  an  inch  above  the  lowest  vertebra 
of  the  neck. 

c.  Marks  the  position  of  the  lowest  or  the  so-called  prom- 
inent cervical  vertebra. 

d.  Shows  the  termination  of  the  oesophagus  and  commence- 
ment of  the  stomach,  a  little  below  the  level  of  the  lower 
border  of  the  shoulder-blade,  i.e.,  opposite  the  ninth  ver- 
tebra of  the  back. 


14  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

would  have   died  within  a  few  minutes,  if  the  offending  body 
had  not  been  removed. 

Gargling  is  a  modification  of  swallowing  a  liquid,  in  which 
the  epiglottis  does  not  firmly  close  the  laryngeal  aperture  and 
the  expiratory  current  of  air  throws  the  liquid  into  vibrations, 
making  the  peculiar  gurgling  noise. 

The  mechanism  of  eructation  of  gas,  regurgitation  of  liquids 
and  solids,  and  vomitings  consists  chiefly  in  an  inspiratory  de- 
pression of  the  diaphragm  with  holding  the  breath  and  contract- 
ing the  abdominal  muscles.  This  produces  increased  pressure 
in  the  cavity  of  the  abdomen,  and  diminished  pressure  in  that 
of  the  chest,  acting  on  the  gullet  in  the  way  of  propulsion  on 
the  one  hand  and  suction  on  the  other.  An  anti-peristaltic 
muscular  action  of  the  oesophagus,  which  unquestionably  oc- 
curs in  ruminant  animals,  has  not  been  proved  to  take  place  in 
man  or  carnivora.  The  windpipe  and  the  posterior  nasal 
opening  are  protected  during  eructation,  regurgitation  and 
vomiting,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  swallowing.  But  the 
occlusion  is  usually  less  perfect  :  On  this  account  the  prick- 
ling effect  of  carbonic  acid  gas  mixed  with  the  air  coming 
up  f.  i.  after  drinking  sparkling  liquids,  may  be  distinctly 
felt  in  the  nose  ;  and  vomiting  is  followed  as  a  rule  by 
coughing,  a  reflex  paroxysm  to  expel  whatever  may  have 
found  lodgment  in  the  upper  cavity  of  the  larynx  or  near 
its  aperture.  The  cough  may,  however,  come  also,  alone, 
from  irritation  of  those  portions  of  the  posterior  laryngeal 
wall  with  which  the  matter  vomited  necessarily  comes  into 
contact. 


THE  THROAT  AnD  ITS   FUNCTIONS.  I  5 

II. — BREATHING. 

The  action  of  the  throat  in  relation  to  respiration  consists 
in  the  conduction  of  the  air  ;  in  the  regulation,  in  some  degree, 
of  its  quantity  and  character,  especially  as  to  temperature  ; 
and  in  the  resistance  afforded  to  the  ingression  of  foreign 
bodies,  which  by  their  presence  within  the  lungs  or  lower  air 
tubes  would  be  injurious  to,  or  destructive  of,  life. 

In  quiet,  natural  breathing  the  month  is  closed.  The  air 
entering  through  the  nose  passes  through  the  naso-pharynx  into 
the  middle  portion  of  the  pharynx,  thence  into  the  larynx,  and 
so  on  through  the  windpipe  and  bronchial  tubes  into  the  lungs. 
It  makes  its  exit  through  the  same  channels  out  through  the 
nose.  The  cavity  of  the  mouth  is  shut  off  from  this  passing 
current  of  air.  The  soft  palate  is  in  contact  with  the  back  of 
the  tongue,  and  through  the  mutual  approximation  of  the 
epiglottis  and  tongue,  the  valleculae  are  closed  and  done  away 
with,  and  in  this  position  of  the  parts  during  quiet  breathing 
no  air  can  reach  the  mouth. 

When  we  breathe  wholly  or  partially  through  the  mouth, 
the  position  of  the  parts  involved  is  entirely  changed.  Breath- 
ing through  the  mouth  takes  place  perfectly  physiologically 
during  violent,  forced  and  deep  respiration,  that  is,  whenever 
the  capacity  of  the  nasal  channels  does  not  sufhce  for  the 
volume  of  air  to  be  inhaled  ;  also  during  talking  and  singing, 
and  whenever  the  mouth  is  not  closed  and  the  uvula  is  drawn 
down.  Abnormally,  it  occurs  whenever,  from  catarrh  or  other 
disease,  the  nasal  passage  is  obstructed  or  closed.  The  air, 
entering  the   oral  cavity,  passes  through  the  fauces  into  the 


I6  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNXTIONS. 

pharynx  and  larynx  and  so  on  as  before.  The  valleculae  may 
then  be  more  or  less  open,  the  soft  palate  may  be  raised  and 
the  nasal  cavity  more  or  less  shut  off,  which  is  especially  the 
case  if  immediately  before,  a  vowel  has  been  sounded  and  an- 
other is  to  be  produced  after  the  inspiration.  In  this  case 
the  muscle  of  the  uvula  usually  contracts. 

If.  from  any  cause,  the  uvula  is  relaxed,  while  it  may  touch 
the  wall  of  the  throat  behind  or  the  raised  back  of  the  tongue 
in  front,  the  passing  current  of  air  may  set  it  to  vibrate  sonor- 
ously, i.e.,  to  making  the  inharmonic  music  called  "snoring." 

Do  you  want  to  know  the  conditions  that  produce,  or  favor 
the  production  of,  these  sonorous  or  "  snorous"  vibrations  ? 

In  the  first  place,  the  horizontal  position  during  sleep,  with 
the  mouth  open  :  and  in  the  second  place,  ver}'  profound  sleep, 
as  after  severe  bodily  exertion,  mental  work  or  emotional 
shock.  The  second  on  account  of  the  greater  degree  of  un- 
consciousness, and  therefore  muscular  relaxation  ;  and  the 
first  because,  in  breathing  through  the  nose,  the  air  column 
touches  the  posterior  surface  of  the  uvula  alone,  and  this  only 
with  little  force  ;  but  in  breathing  through  the  mouth,  both 
surfaces  are  energetically  touched.  All  things  that  interfere 
with  natural  and  easy  breathing  during  the  sleep  :  therefore, 
clothing  tight  around  the  throat  or  chest,  heavy  covering  and 
late  suppers,  especially  exciting  drink  with  well  filled  stomach 
in  corpulent  persons,  predispose  to  snoring.  Whoever  'has 
catarrh,  or  any  disease  interfering  with  nasal  breathing,  must 
snore  ;  but  very  often  after  the  necessity  for  breathing  through 
the  mouth  has  passed  away,  habit  keeps  it  up,  and  it  is  on  this 
account  that  a  little  invention  of  mine  for  the  cure  of  snoring 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS.  1/ 

was  successful,  and  became  very  popular  a  dozen  or  more 
years  ago.  It  consisted  simply  of  a  night-cap  or  muzzle, 
which  forced  the  patient  to  keep  the  mouth  shut.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say,  however,  that  it  is  impossible  to  snore  with  the 
mouth  closed.  It  is  only  more  difficult  of  accomplish- 
ment, but  I  have  known  inveterate  adepts  who  have  suc- 
ceeded in  spite  of  this  and  other  obstacles.  Sometimes  I 
have  prevented  snoring  by  pulling  the  tongue  out,  sometimes 
by  drawing  the  uvula  forward  and  fastening  it.  If  the  last 
manoeuvre  is  energetically  carried  out,  snoring  is  made  im- 
possible. 

I  repeat  that  the  natural  mode  of  quiet  breathing  is  through 
the  nose  ;  mouth-breathing  is  an  acquirement.  A  new-bom 
infant  would  choke  to  death  if  you  closed  its  nose  ;  it  does  not 
immediately  know  how  to  get  air  into  the  lungs  through  the 
mouth  until  after,  by  depressing  the  tongue,  you  have  once 
made  a  passage  for  it. 

George  Catlin,  the  celebrated  traveller  among  American  In- 
dians, became  so  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  difference 
between  the  healthy  condition  and  physical  perfection  of  these 
people  in  their  primitive  state,  especially  their  sound  teeth 
and  good  lungs,  and  the  deplorable  mortality,  the  numerous 
diseases  and  deformities,  in  civilized  communities,  is  mainly 
due  to  the  habit,  common  among  the  latter,  of  breathing 
through  the  mouth,  especially  during  sleep, — that  he  wrote  a 
book,  entitled,  "  Malrespiration  and  its  effects  upon  the  enjoy- 
ments and  life  of  man."  In  this  book  he  says,  "  If  I  were  to 
endeavor  to  bequeath  to  posterity  the  most  important  motto 
which  human  language  can  convey,  it  should  be  in  the  three 


1 8  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

words,  'shut  your  mouth.'  In  the  social  transactions  of  life 
this  might  have  its  beneficial  results  as  the  most  friendly  cau- 
tionary advice,  or  be  received  as  the  grossest  of  insults  ;  but 
where  I  would  print  and  engrave  it,  in  every  nursery  and  on 
every  bedpost  in  the  universe,  its  meaning  could  not  be  mis- 
taken, and  if  obeyed,  its  importance  would  soon  be  realized." 

He  also  says,  "  It  is  one  of   the  misfortunes  of  civilization 
that  it  has  too  many  amusing  and  exciting  things  for  the  mouth 
to  say,  and  too  many  delicious  things  for  it  to  taste,  to  allow  of 
its  being  closed  during  the  day.     The  mouth  therefore  has  too 
little  reserve  for  the  protection  of  its  natural  purity  of  express- 
ion, and  too  much  exposure  for  the  protection  of  its  garniture  ; 
but,  do  keep  you?'  mouth  shut  when  you  j-ead,  when  you  write, 
when  you  listen,  when  you  a?'e  in  pain,  when  you  are  walking, 
when  you  are  running,  when  you  are  riding,  and  by  all  means' 
when  you  are  angry  !     There  is  710  person  but  who  will  find  and 
acknowledge  improvement  in  health  and  enjoymetit  from  even  a 
temporary  attention  to  this  advice." 

Again  he  says,  "  there  is  a  proverb,  as  old  and  unchangeable 
as  their  hills,  amongst  North  American  Indians,  '  my  son,  if 
thou  wouldst  be  wise,  open  first  thy  eyes  ;  thy  ears  next,  and 
last  of  all  thy  mouth,  that  thy  words  may  be  words  of  wisdom 
and  give  no  advantage  to  thine  adversary.'  This  might  be 
adopted  with  good  effect  in  civilized  life  ;  he  who  would  strictly 
adhere  to  it  would  be  sure  to  reap  its  benefits  in  his  waking 
hours,  and  would  soon  find  the  habit  running  into  his  hours  of 
rest,  into  which  he  would  calmly  enter  ;  dismissing  the  nervous 
anxieties  of  the  day,  as  he  firmly  closed  his  teeth  and  his  lips, 
only  to  be  opened  after  his  eyes  and  his  ears  in  the  morning. 


THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUN'CTIONS.  IQ 

the  rest  of  such  sleep  would  bear  him  daily  and  hourly  proof  of 

its  value." 

Catlin  regards  the  habit  of  sleeping  with  the  mouth  open  the 
most  pernicious  of  all  bad  habits.  The  horrors  of  night-mare 
and  snoring  are  according  to  him  but  the  least  of  its  evil 
effects.  He  thinks  "  for  the  greater  portion  of  the  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  persons  suffering  with  weakness  of 
lungs,  with  bronchitis,  asthma,  indigestion  and  other  affections 
of  the  digestive  and  respiratory  organs,"  the  correction  of  this 
habit  is  a  panacea  for  their  ills  ! 

He  insists  that  "  mothers  should  be  looked  to  as  the  first  and 
principal  correctors  of   this  most  destructive  of  human  habits ; 
*     *     *     and  the  united  and  simultaneous  efforts  of  the  civil- 
ized world  should  be  exerted  in  the  overthrow  of  a  monster  so 
destructive  to  the  good  looks  and  life  of  man.     Every  physician 
should  advise  his  patients,  and  every  boarding-school  in  exist- 
ence and  every  hospital  should  have  its  surgeon  or  matron,  and 
every  regiment   its   officer,  to  make  their   nightly  and  hourly 
'  rounds,'  to  force  a  stop  to  so  unnatural,  disgusting  and  danger- 
ous a  habit  !     Under  the  working  of  such  a  system,  mothers 
guarding  and  helping  the  helpless,  school-masters  their  scholars, 
hospital  surgeons  their  patients,  generals  their  soldiers,  and  the 
rest  of  the  world  protecting  themselves,  a  few  years  would  show 
the  glorious  results   in  the  bills  of  mortality  and  the  next  gen- 
eration would  be  a  regeneration  of  the  human  race." 

So  much  for  the  conduction  of  the  air  ;  as  to  the  regulation 
of  its  quantity  and  the  protection  to  the  lower  respiratory 
organs  afforded  by  the  throat,  I  need  here  only  refer  to  the 
valvular  action  of  the  palate,  base  of  tongue,  pharynx  and  epi- 


20  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

glottis  alreadv  described  ;  to  the  double  valve  arrangement  in 
the  interior  of  the  larynx  to  be  described  ;  to  the  hair  in  the 
interior  of  the  nose  ;  to  the  possession,  by  the  mucous  mem- 
brane, of  secreting  glands  to  moisten  it,  and  of  cilia,  or  hair- 
like projections,  moving  in  the  direction  of  the  outlet,  to 
remove  excess  of  secretion  as  well  as  foreign  matter,  and  per- 
haps also  to  promote  the  mixing  of  the  stagnant  air  in  the  lung 
with  the  freshly  inspired  air  ;  and  finally,  to  the  reflex  produc- 
tion of  cough. 

Of  the  different  modifications  of  breathing,  so  far  as  the 
throat  is  concerned,  I  may  say  that  most  of  them  are  accom- 
panied by  the  production  of  some  sort  of  noise^  as  for  instance, 
hawking  and  coughing,  as  well  as  the  convulsive  actions  of 
laughing,  weeping  and  sobbing  ;  each  of  these  has  a  biography 
of  its  own,  into  the  detailed  consideration  of  which  I  cannot 
now  enter.  But  I  shall  make  a  few  remarks  concerning  some 
of  them  when  explaining  the  production  of  vocal  sound. 

Sucking  is  an  inspiratory  act  to  produce  a  vacuum  to  draw 
into  the  mouth  usually  liquids,  though  sometimes  lIso  semi- 
solids and  aeriform  substances.  Sipping  is  drawing  in  a  liquid 
in  small  quantity  by  suction.  In  sjtioking  of  tobacco  and  other 
substances  the  smoke  is  drawn  in  by  suction  :  The  smoke  is 
exhaled  either  through  the  mouth,  by  opening  it  suddenly, 
which  is  called  puffings  or  through  the  nose,  but  in  either  case 
without  entering  the  larynx  ;  for  at  the  very  moment  it  ap- 
proaches the  epiglottis,  expiration  commences,  except  in  the 
Turkish  mode  of  smoking,  which  alone  constitutes  inkalation  of 
the  smoke.  Some  persons,  however,  sT.vallow  the  smoke  after 
sucking  it  into  the  mouth. 


THE   THROAT, AND   ITS  FUNCTIONS.  21 

In  straining  and  in  every  violent  muscular  effort,  there  is  a 
closure  of  the  parts,  which  confines  the  air  within  the  lungs  and 
throat.  This  is  described  by  Shakespeare  when  he  makes 
Henry  V  encourage  his  soldiers  at  the  siege  of  Harfleur.  (In 
King  Henry  V,  act  3d,  scene  ist.) 

"  Once  more  unto  the  breach,  dear  friends,  once  more  ;  *  *  * 
In  peace,  there's  nothing  so  becomes  a  man, 
As  modest  stillness,  and  humility  ; 
But,  when  the  blast  of  war  blows  in  our  ears, 
Then,  imitate  the  action  of  the  tiger  ;"**** 

"  Now  *  *  * 

Hold  hard  the  breath,  and  bend  up  every  spirit 
To  his  full  height !  " 


III.    PRONATION. 

All  animals,  except  the  lowest,  possess  some  means  of  mak- 
ing themselves  heard.     Many  have  the  power  of  emitting  vocal 
sounds  in  which  the  practiced  ear  can  recognize  variations  of 
cadence,  character  and  power,  conveying  to  other  individuals 
of  the  same  genus  or  species  intimations  of  danger,  of  pleasure, 
of  suffering  or  distress,  of  sources  of  nourishment,  of  desire,  of 
affection,  and  perhaps  many  other  emotions  and  suggestions,  in 
a  language  which,  in  all  except  its  most  prominent  and  mani- 
fest meanings,  is  unknown  to  us.     Human  voice  and  speech  con- 
stitute  the   grand  distinguishing  characteristics   of    humanity. 
They  are  the  chief  means  of  developing  the  mental  faculties, 
and  of  communing  with  our  fellowmen.     They  can  embody  all 
human  perceptions  and  desires  ;  all  that  the  mind  can  conceive, 
and  all  that   the   soul   can  feel.     They  can  welcome,  warn  or 


22  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNXTIONS. 

persuade,  attract  or  repel,  excite  or  soothe,  mourn  or  mock, 
sympathize  or  threaten,  flatter,  beg  or  command  ;  and  in  song, 
united  with  music,  like  Iris,  the  messenger  of  gods, -they  can 
carry  to  the  souls  of  mortals  unspeakable  love,  or  passion,  or 
peace. 

Their  mechanism  somewhat  resembles  the  musical  instrument 
— the  reed  organ.  In  the  organ  there  is  a  bellows  to  supply  a 
current  of  air,  a  wind-chest  or  portevent  to  conduct  it,  a  reed 
to  vibrate,  and  a  body-tube  or  resonance-pipe  to  augment  and 
modify  the  sound  produced.  In  the  human  voice-  and  speech- 
organ,  the  lungs  are  the  bellows  ;  the  bronchial  tubes,  from 
the  smallest  ramifications  upward  to  the  wind-pipe,  are  the 
wind-chest ;  the  larynx  contains  the  reed  ;  and  the  space  above 
the  reed,  including  the  upper  cavity  of  the  larynx  and  the 
cavities  and  adnexa  of  the  pharynx,  mouth  and  nose,  consti- 
tutes the  resonance-tube. 

With  some  parts  of  this  complex  organ  you  are  already  ac- 
quainted. I  shall  now  describe  in  detail  the  hyoid  bone,  thy- 
roid body,  larynx,  wind-pipe,  with  its  ramifications,  and  lungs. 

In  Fig.  iv,  I  is  the  epiglottis  which  belongs  to  the  larynx, 
but  projects  above  and  behind  the  hyoid  or  tongue  bone  2. 
On  each  side  of  the  central  portion  or  body  of  the  latter  is 
seen  the  greater  horn  of  the  hyoid  bone,  and  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  greater  horns  and  the  body  are  the  lesser  horns. 
I,  4,  5  and  6  show  the  larynx,  of  which  in  a  front  view  are 
seen  three  cartilages,  viz.:  epiglottis,  thyroid  and  cricoid  only; 
the  thyroid  cartilage  4  shows  a  deep  notch  in  the  middle 
of  its  upper  edge,  into  which  the  epiglottis  i  is  inserted  ;  5,  5 
are  the  superior  horns  of  the  thyroid  cartilage,  and  3,  3  the 


THE  THROA-TAND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


23 


Fig.  IV.     A  connected  view  of  the  hyoid  bone,  thyroid  bod^ 
laryin'x,  wind-pipe  with  its  ramifications,  and  lungs. 


24  THE  THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

thyro-hyoid  ligament  which  fasten  the  ends  of  these  horns 
to  the  extremities  of  the  greater  horns  of  the  hyoid  bone,  6  is 
the  cricoid   cartilage,  which  is   seen  to  be  narrow  in  front, 
but  with  its  upper  edge   rising  obliquely  :  at  its  sides  it  is  at- 
tached to  the  inferior  horns  of  the  thyroid  cartilage. 
Between  the  lower  edge  of  the  thyroid  and  the  upper  of  the 
cricoid  cartilage  a  portion  of  the  elastic  membrane  of  the 
IsLvynx — the  so-called  thyro-cricoid  membrane — is  seen.     Below 
the  cricoid  cartilage  is  the  crico-tracheal  ligament ;   this 
unites  the  larynx  to  the  wind-pipe  or  trachea,  which  extends 
down  to  the  bifurcation  9.     At  8,  8,  8  are  seen  tracheal  car- 
tilaginous rings.     7  shows  the  thyroid  body,  its  isthmus 
being  in   the  middle   and  its  lateral  lobes  extending  lower 
down  the  trachea  on   the   one  haad,  and  on  the  other  so  high 
up  as   to  hide   almost  completely  the  thyro-cricoid  joint. 
At    the    bifurcation    of    the    trachea    9,    commence    the    left 
bronchus  10  and  the  right  bronchus   n.     A, A  show  in 
outhne  the  two  lobes  of  the  left  lung  into  which  the  bron- 
chial tubes  a,  a  are  seen  to  enter.     The  three  lobes  of  the 
right  lung  are  indicated  by  B,  B,  B,  with  the  corresponding 
bronchial  tubes  b,  b,  b.     In  the  upper  lobe  of  the  right  lung 
is  indicated  in  outline  the  manner  in  which  the  bronchial  tubes 
subdivide  into   smaller  and  smaller  tubes,  which  finally  termi- 
nate m  air-passages  and  air-cells  of  the  primary  lobules 
of  the  lungs,  (see  Fig.  vi). 

In  Fig.  v.,  the  letter  A  shows  the  naso-pharynx,  B  the 
oro-pharynx,  and  C  the  laryngo-pharynx  ;  i  to  vii  are 
the  first  to  seventh  cervical  vertebrae ;  1  is  the  frontal 
sinus,  2  the  sphenoidal  sinus,  and  3  occipital  bone ;  4 


THE   THROAt  AND   ITS   FUN  C  TONS. 


25 


Fig.  V.     Representation  of  section  through  head  and  neck. 


26  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

the  superior  and  5  the  inferior  turbinated  process  of  the 
ethmoid  bone ;  6  the  turbinated  bone,  7  the  hard  and  8 
the  soft  palate ;  9  the  uvula,  10  anterior  palatine  arch, 
II  lower  jaw  bone,  12  tonsil,  13  orifice  of  the  eustach- 
ian tube,  14  Rosenmiiller's  fossa,  15  tongue,  16  hyoid 
bone,  17  posterior  palatine  arch,  18  vallecula,  19  epi- 
glottis, 20  thyroid  cartilage,  21  ventricular  fold,  22 
vocal  band,  23  arytenoid  cartilage,  24  cuneiform  carti- 
lage, 25  cricoid  cartilage,  26  anterior  muscle,  27  supra- 
arytenoid  cartilage,  28  lateral  muscle,  29  thyroid  body, 
wind-pipe,  31  food-pipe. 


Fio  VI.    Diagram  of  two  primary  lobules  of  the  lungs,  magnified. 

A  bronchial  tube  is  seen  to  go  to  each  primary  lobule, 
of  which  a  pair  is  represented,  2,  2,  connected  by  fibro-elastic 
tissue ;  3,  3,  shows  intercellular  air  passages ;  4,  air 
cells ;  5,  branches  of  the  pulmonary  artery  and  vein. 

The  lungs  are  essentially  composed  of  groups  of  little  elastic 
bags,  called  air  vesicles  or  air-cells,  each  about  the  one-tenth 
of  a  line  in  diameter,  which  form  a  primary  lobule  (see  Fig.  vi, 
2).  Each  lobule  when  sufficiently  magnified  shows  some  ex- 
ternal resemblance  to  a  bunch   of  grapes  ;  in   its  structure  it 


THE   THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS.  2/ 

represents  the  entire  lung.  It  consists,  as  the  diagram  Fig.  vi 
shows,  of  a  minute  bronchial  tube  (i),  opening  into  an  air- 
passage  (3),  which  communicates  with  a  multitude  of  air-cells 
(4).  When  the  chest  is  expanded,  these  air  vesicles  expand  on 
account  of  their  elasticity  ;  a  partial  vacuum  being  produced, 
air  from  the  outside  rushes  in  through  the  routes  already 
described  to  you.  When  the  chest  contracts,  the  air-cells 
contract  or  rather  are  squeezed  together,  and  the  air  thus 
expelled  is  supplied  through  the  jronchial  tubes  and  wind- 
pipe to  the  larynx  (see  Fig.  iv). 

The  bronchial  tubes  (Fig.  iv,  outer  edge  of  upper  B ;  Fig. 
iv,  i),  starting  at  the  air  passages  (Fig.  vi,  3),  of  the  primary 
lobules  with  a  calibre  of  about  the  one-fortieth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  coalesce  to  form  larger  and  larger  tubes,  until,  in  the 
right  lung  (see  Fig.  iv,  b,  b,  b),  three  of  them,  and  in  the  left 
lung  (see  Fig.  iv,  a,  a),  two,  unite  to  form  respectively  the  right 
bronchus,  which  is  about  the  fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  and 
about  an  inch  in  length,  and  the  left  bronchus,  which  is  nar- 
rower than  the  right,  but  about  twice  its  length. 

The   trachea   or  windpipe   (weasand),  is   a  cylindroid   tube, 
(see  Fig.  iv)   cylindrical  in  front  and  on  the  sides  and  flat  be- 
hind (see  Fig  vii),  about  four  inches  long,  from  three-fourths 
to  an  inch  in  breadth,  and  one-half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  depth.     It  is  composed  of   a   series  of   incomplete  cartilagi- 
nous   rings,    varying    irregularly    from    sixteen    to     twenty   in 
number,  connected  by  a  fibro-elastic   membrane,  and  is  lined 
with  a  mucous  membrane  continuous  above  with  the  lining  of 
the  larynx  and  below  with  that  of  the  bronchial  tubes.     The 
cartilaginous  rings  are  somewhat  horse-shoe   shaped,  because 


28  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

they  are  imperfect  at  their  posterior  third,  which  gives  a  sec- 
tion of  the  tube  the  tunnel-shaped  appearance  seen  in  Fig,  vii. 
The  posterior  interval  of  the  cartilaginous  rings  is  occupied  by 
a  loose  fibrous  membrane  and  an  internal  layer  of  pale,  unstri- 
ated  muscular  fibres  in  a  transverse  direction. 


Fig.  vii.     A  portion'  of  the  trachea. 

The  upper  front  portion,  sometimes  fully  three-fourths  of  the 
circumference  of  the  trachea  is  grasped  by  the  thyroid  body. 
(See  Fig.  iv,  7.)  This  is  a  moderately  soft,  reddish  organ, 
which  acts  as  a  cushion  and  as  a  temporary  blood  reservoir. 
It  consists  of  a  pair  of  lateral  lobes  united  by  a  transverse 
isthmus.  (Fig.  iv,  7.)  The  isthmus  usually  covers  the  second, 
third  and  fourth  tracheal  rings,  but  extends  sometimes  as  high 
up  as  the  cricoid  cartilage  of  the  larynx  or  with  a  narrow  pro- 
jection even  as  high  up  as  the  hyoid  bone,  and  exceptionally  as 
low  down  as  the  fifth  or  sixth  ring.  The  lateral  lobes  are 
oblong  oval,  thicker  below  than  above  and  usually  of  unequal 
length  ;  they  commonly  measure  about  two  inches,  extending 
from  the  sixth  tracheal  ring  up  to  the  lower  part  of  the  thyroid 
cartilage.     The  thyroid  body  is  frequently  larger  in  the  female 


THE   THROAT   AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


29 


sex  than  in  the  male  and  more  liable  to  enlargement ;  its  per- 
manent enlargement  constitutes  the  affection  called  goitre. 

The  top  of  the  windpipe,  the  larynx,  (see  Fig.  iv,  i,  4  and  6) 
is  hung  up  in  the  fore  part  of  the  neck  attached  to  the  hyoid 
or  tongue  bone.  (See  Fig.  iv,  2.)  The  hyoid  bone  itself,  is 
not  directly  connected  with  the  other  bones  of  the  body ;  but 
is  held  moveably  in  its  position  at  the  root  of  the  tongue  and 


Fig.  VIII.    Framework  of  the  larynx,  as  seen  from  behind. 

I,  Epiglottis ;  2,  2,  great  horns,  3,  3>  small  horns  of 
the  thyroid  cartilage;  4.  plate  of  the  cricoid  cartilage; 
5,  right  arytenoid  cartilage;  6,  left  supra-arytenoid 
cartilage ;  7,  7,  sesamoid  cartilages ;  P,  left  posterior 
laryngeal  muscle  ;  T,  transverse  laryngeal  muscle. 


30  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

behind,  and  just  under,  the  chin  by  numerous  ligaments  and 
muscles.  In  shape  it  resembles  a  horseshoe,  and  consists  of  a 
middle  portion  or  body,  two  greater  horns  and  two  lesser  horns. 
It  supports  the  tongue  and  also  the  larynx,  keeps  the  pharynx 
patulous  and  prevents  the  epiglottis  from  inclining  too  far  for- 
ward. 

The  larynx  is  an  irregularly  shaped,  but  as  to  its  two  lateral 
halves  symmetrical,  open  box,  somewhat  triangular  above  and 
narrow  and  cylindrical  below.  In  size,  adult  larynges  differ  con- 
siderably, especially  according  to  sex  ;  the  extremes  are  that  in 
the  three  dimensions  :  height,  (not  taking  into  account  the 
length  of  either  the  upper  horns  of  the  thyroid  cartilage.  Fig. 
iv>  5»  5>  or  the  epiglottis.  Fig.  iv,  i),  width  and  depth,  a  large 
male  larynx  measures  about  an  inch  and  nine  or  ten  lines,  and 
a  small  female  larynx  about  an  inch  and  one  and  a-half  or  two 
lines,  the  average  male  larynx  measuring  a  few  lines  less,  and 
the  average  female  larynx  a  few  lines  more  than  these  ex- 
tremes. 

The  larynx  consists  of  a  framework  of  cartilages  (pieces  of 
gristle),  which  are  held  together  by  ligaments  and  moved  by 
muscles,  provided  with  blood-vessels,  lymphatics  and  nerves, 
and  lined  first  by  a  peculiar  elastic  membrane,  and  secondly 
by  a  mucous  membrane  continuous  with  that  of  the  mouth, 
nose  and  pharynx  above  and  trachea  below.  The  cartilages 
composing  the  larynx  are  nearly  always  nine,  and  occasionally 
eleven,  in  number,  three  being  single,  and  three  or  occasionally 
four,  pairs.     They  are  : 

I.  The  basis  or  ring  cartilage  (cricoid)  below.  (See  Fig.  iv, 
6  ;  Fig.  viii,  4.)  This  is  narrow  in  front  and  rises  up  to  be  very 


THE   THROAT   AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS.  31 

broad  behind  (Fig.  v,  25).  On  each  side  it  presents  a  surface  for 
the  joint  of  the  shield  cartilage.  Its  broadened  posterior 
portion  is  called  its  plate. 

2.  The  shield  cartilage  (thyroid),  the  form  of  which  is  nearly 
that  of  the  cover  of  a  book  half  opened,  the  back  of  the  book 
representing  the  projection  in  front  externally,  known  as 
"Adam's  apple."  On  the  posterior  surface  this  is  called  the 
receding  angle.  A  short  projection  of  the  shield  cartilage 
called  the  lower  horn,  (Fig.  viii,  3)  is  attached  to  each  side  of 
the  basis  cartilage  forming  a  hinge  joint  ;  while  the  upper 
horns  (Fig.  iv,  5),  are  fastened  by  means  of  the  thyro-hyoid 
ligament,  (Fig.  iv,  3),  to  the  ends  of  the  great  horns  of  the 
hyoid  bone.  The  sides  of  the  shield  cartilage  flare  out  to  make 
Hie  pyriform  sinuses.     (Fig.  viii,  ;  Fig.  xi,  i,  i.) 

3.  The  cover  cartilage  (epiglottis),  which,  being  inserted  into 
a  deep  notch  of  the  shield  cartilage  in  front,  during  swallowing 
descends,  as  you  remember,  like  a  lid  or  valve  and  closes  the 
voice-box  and  windpipe,  so  that  food  passes  over  it  into  the 
food-pipe.     (Fig.  iv,  i  ;  Fig.  viii,  i,  etc.) 

4.  The  two  pyramidal  or  moving  cartilages  (arytenoids), 
which  are  placed  with  a  hollow  base  upon  corresponding  con- 
vexities on  the  top  of  the  basis  cartilage  behind  ;  (Fig.  viii,  5  ; 
Fig.  xi,  3)  making  a  ball  and  socket  joint. 

5.  The  two  buffer  cartilages  (supra-arytenoids),  one  on  the 
top  of  each  arytenoid  cartilage,  to  deaden  or  distribute  press- 
ure, preventing  injury  to  the  larynx,  especially  in  swallowing 
hard  morsels.     (Fig.  v,  27  ;  Fig.  viii,  6.) 

6.  The  two  prop  cartilages  (cuneiforms),  which  hold  up  the 
folds  of  the  mucous  membrane  extending  one   on  each  side, 


32  THE  THROAT  AND   ITS  FUNCTIONS. 

from  the  arytenoid  cartilage  to  the  epiglottis,  constituting  the 
sides  of  the  upper  laryngeal  aperture.  (Fig.  v,  24.)  These 
wedge-shaped  cartilages  help  to  keep  this  aperture  patulous. 
Occasionally  these  are  missing  in  the  human  larynx,  especially 
when  the  aryepiglottic  folds  are  tense  without  them,  on  account 
of  great  development  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages. 

The  exceptional  pair  of  cartilages  (sesamoid  cartilages),  are 
situated  at  the  upper  lateral  edge  of  the  arytenoids,  (Fig. 
viii,  7,  7)  and  when  present  facilitate  somewhat  the  action  of  the 
muscles  that  pull  the  epiglottis  backward. 

The  anatomical  name  of  each  of  these  cartilages  may  be  re- 
membered by  the  following  mnemonic  device.  Think  of  writ- 
ing the  word  "  Coffee,"  and  after  having  written  a  capital  C  as 
the  first  letter,  change  your  mind  and  write  "  tea  "  in  capitals  ; 
then  add  the  small  letter  "  c  "  for  cream  and  "  s  "  for  sugar 
and  another  "  s  "  for  an  exceptional  larger  quantity  of  sugar 
than  that  taken  by  most  people.     (See  Diagram,  Fig.  ix.) 


Fig.  IX.     Diagram  of   Cartilages  and  Intrinsic    Muscles  of    the 

Larynx. 

Then,    C  stands   for   cricoid,  the   basis   cartilage ;     T  for 


THE   THROAT   AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS.  33 

thyroid,  the  shield  cartilage  ;  E  for  epiglottis,  the  cover  car- 
tilage ;  and  A  for  arytenoid,  the  moving  cartilages  ;  these  are 
the  large  cartilages,  the  small  c  stands  for  cuneiform,  the 
prop  cartilages  ;  s  for  supra-arytenoid,  the  buffer  cartilages ; 
and  the  additional  s  for  sesamoid,  the  exceptional  cartilages. 

By  uniting  the  three  lower  letters  by  lines,  drawing  a  trans- 
verse line  behind  the  A^  and  uniting  its  terminus  with  the 
lower  letter  C,  — five  of  the  intrinsic  muscles  of  the  larynx, 
which  are  the  most  important  ones  concerned  in  phonation, 
may  also  be  easily  remembered.  They  are  :  i,  the  anterior 
(thyro-cricoid)  muscles  ;  2,  the  interior  (thyro-arytenoid)  mus- 
cles ;  3,  the  transversa  (arytenoid)  muscle  ;  4,  the  lateral  (lateral 
crico-arytenoid)  muscle  ;  and  5,  the  posterior  (posterior  crico- 
arytenoid) muscles.  All  these  except  the  arytenoid  or  trans- 
verse muscle  are  in  pairs,  />.,  situated  on  each  side  of  the 
larynx ;  and  it  is  seen  that  all  of  them  except  the  thyro-cricoid 
or  anterior  are  inserted  into  the  arytenoid  cartilages.  Of  the 
functions  of  these  various  muscles  it  suffices  here  to  say  that 
the  posterior  muscles  by  their  contraction  widen  the  space  in 
the  interior  of  the  larynx  as  I  shall  explain  presently,  while  all 
the  others  narrow  it. 

The  interior  of  the  larynx  is  somewhat  hour-glass  shaped. 
(see  Fig.  x).  It  is  divided  into  two  cavities,  an  upper  and  a 
lower,  by  two  horizontal  lateral  projections  which  have  a  slit 
or  cleft-like  space  between  them.  These  lateral  projections 
are  the  reeds  of  the  vocal  organ,  called  the  vocal  cords,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  vocal  bands  (see  Fig.  x,  9);  and  the 
slit  or  opening  between  these  projections  is  the  vocal  chink  or 
rima  glottidis. 


34 


THE    THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


Fig.   X.     View  of   the   interior  of   the   larynx,  the    poste:uor 

HALF  being    cut    AWAY. 

I,  I  the  greater  horns  of  the  hyoid  bone,  cut  across  ;  2 
thyroid  cartilages,  3  cricoid  cartilages,  4  first  ring  of 
the  trachea  ;  5  the  thyro-hyoid  membrane,  6  upper  por- 
tion of  the  epiglottis,  7  cushion  of  the  epiglottis  ;  8  ven- 
ticular  fold,  showing  above  it  the  wedge-shaped  space  of 
the  upper  laryngeal  cavity ;  9  left  vocal  band,  a,  b,  c 
showing  the  different  portions  of  the  interior  muscle  ;  the 
muscular  tissue  above  belongs  to  the  muscles  affecting  the 
position  of  the  epiglottis.  The  wedge-shaped  space 
of  the  lower  laryngeal  cavity  is  well  shown. 


THE   THROAT   and    ITS   FUNCTIONS.  35 

This  cliink  is  correctly  enough  termed  rima  glottidis,  literally 
chink  of  the  glottis,  but  some  call  it  simply  glottis,  although 
that  word  being  derived  from  ''glotta"  meaning  tongue,  would 
be  more  appropriately  applied,  as  Galen  did,  to  the  projec- 
tions themselves  than  to  the  opening  between  them.  The 
action  of  the  five  muscles  that  I  have  described  to  you  is  ex- 
erted upon  these  lateral  projections  or  vocal  bands.  The  pos- 
terior muscles  are  abductors  of  the  vocal  bands,  i.e.,  they  draw 
them  apart  and  thereby  widen  the  chink  between  them  ;  the 
anterior,  interior,  transverse  and  lateral  muscles  are  adductors 
of  the  vocal  bands,  i.e.,  they  bring  about  (together  with  other 
effects,  such  as  variations  of  tension  and  of  length  and  thick- 
-ness),  more  or  less  approximation  of  the  lateral  projections, 
and  thereby  narrow  and  even  obliterate  the  chink. 

The  hour-glass  shape  of  the  interior  of  the  larynx  is  pro- 
duced as  follows  :  The  upper  surface  of  the  projections  is 
horizontal ;  but  from  its  free  edge,  each  projection  slopes  ob- 
liquely downward,  so  that  the  space  below  is  wedge-shaped,  with 
the  point  upward.  Above  the  projections,  the  lining  of  the  cavity 
i.e.,  both  the  elastic  and  the  mucous  membrane,  is  tucked  in  as 
it  were,  or  folded  upward,  to  form  a  hood  or  pouch  in  each  side 
wall  of  the  larynx.  The  pouch  is  conical  in  form  and  slightly 
curved  from  before  backward,  resembling  a  "  phrygian  cap  ;  " 
it  is  called  the  sacculus  of  the  larynx.  The  entrance  to  the 
sacculus,  an  oblong  fossa  situated  along  nearly  the  whole  length 
of  and  just  above  each  lateral  projection,  is  called  the  ventricle 
of  the  larynx  ;  and  the  fold  of  the  membrane  which  is  tucked 
in  and  forms  the  upper  boundary  of  the  ventricle  is  called  the 
ventricular  fold.     The  sacculus   on   each   side  being  more   or 


36 


THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


less  filled  with  air,  the  fold  which  is  its  inner  wall  is,  of  course, 
pushed  more  or  less  inward  and  upward  ;  therefore  the  space 
above  the  projections  is  wedge-shaped  as  well  as  the  space 
below,  but  with  the  point  downward.  The  double  valve 
arrangement  in  the  interior  of  the  larynx  to  which  I  have 
already  alluded  as  controlling  the  conduction  of  air  is  thus 
constituted.  The  lower  valve,  formed  by  the  more  or  less 
approximated    lateral   projections   (vocal  bands),  obstructs   or 

-7 


Fig.  XI.     Vocal  portion  of  the  elastic  membrane  of  the  larynx, 
IN  connection  with  the  cartilages,  seen  from  above. 

I.  I  Section  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  ;  2  cricoid  cartil- 
age, 3  right  arytenoid  cartilage  ;  4  crico-arytenoid  liga- 
ment ;  5  elastic  membrane  of  the  larynx ;  6,  6  duplica- 
tions of  the  elastic  membrane,  seen  to  extend  from  7,  the 
anterior  vocal  process  to  the  two  posterior  vocal  pro- 
cesses, which  are  the  most  anterior  projections  of  the  ary- 
tenoid cartilages.  These  duplicatures  or  folds  contain  8,  8  the 
two  anterior  vocal  nodules,  and  9,  the  two  posterior  vo- 
cal nodules.  Having  on  each  side  the  interior  muscle  fill- 
ing up  the  space  to  the  lateral  walls  and  being  covered  with 
mucous  membrane,  thev  constitute  the  vocal  bands. 


THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNXTIOXS.  3/ 

regulates  the    entrance  of  air,  while   the  upper  valve,  formed 
by  the  ventricular  folds,  obstructs  or  regulates  the  exit  of  air. 
About    140  years  ago  a   French  physician,  Ferrein,  gave  the 
name  '' cJwrdcR  vocales''  to  the  lateral  projections  in  the  interior 
of  the  larynx  because  he  imagined  their  action  to  be  analogous 
to  that  of  tensioned  strings.     This    name    was    unfortunately 
universally  adopted  and  has  survived  the  erroneous  hypothesis 
on  which  it  was  founded.  They  are  still  called  in  English  "  vocal 
cords,''  in  French,  ''  cordes  vocales,"  in  German,  "  Stimm-bdnder.'* 
They  certainly  act  like   a  tongue  of  a  reed-pipe  and  not  like 
musical  strings  or  cords.     I  tried  to  reestablish  a  more  correct 
name,  such  as  vocal  reeds,  vocal  tongues,  lips  of  the  glottis,  or 
simply  glottes,  names  that  had  been  used  ages  ago  ;  but  finding 
it  impossible   to   displace   the  Latin   appelation  mentioned,  I 
have,  in  correspondence  with  the  German  word  "  Stimm-band," 
called  them   vocal  bands,  a  designation  that  has  found  favor 
with  several  writers  on  the  subject. 

Each  vocal  band  consists  chiefly  of  its  muscle,  which  is  the 
interior  or  thyro-arytenoid  muscle,  and  elastic  tissue,  which  is 
a  duplicature  of  the  elastic  membrane  of  the  larynx,  (see  Fig.  xi, 
6)  and  a  covering  mucous  membrane.  It  extends  from  the 
anterior  vocal  process,  which  is  a  little  projection  on  the  inside 
of  the  "Adam's  apple,"  (Fig.  xi,  7)  to  the  posterior  vocal  pro- 
cess which  is  a  littfe  projection  at  the  base  of  each  mov- 
ing or  arytenoid  cartilage.  Near  the  free  edge,  its  front 
portion  usually  contains,  especially  in  the  male  larynx,  a  small 
dense  nodule,  which  I  call  the  anterior  vocal  nodule,  (Fig.  xi,  8), 
and  its  posterior  portion,  more  often  in  the  female  than  in  the 
male  sex,  an  elongated  nodule  which  I  call  the  posterior  vocal 


38  THE   THROAT  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

nodule,  (Fig.  xi,  9).  As  the  two  vocal  bands  are  attached  in 
front  in  close  contact  and  behind  to  two  separate  cartilages,  the 
space  between  them  must,  when  uninfluenced  by  muscular 
action,  be  of  triangular  form,  (see  Fig.  xi).  This  position  of 
the  bands,  which  is  the  one  found  in  the  dead  subject,  is  called 
the  cadaveric  position.  When  the  bands  are  moved  further 
apart,  the  base  of  the  triangle  is  lengthened  ;  when  they  are 
approximated,  they  become  parallel  and,  then  finally,  the  tri- 
angular space  disappears.  The  manner  of  their  adduction  and 
abduction  may  be  illustrated  by  supposing  two  fingers,  say 
the  middle  and  index,  to  represent  them.  The  juncture  of  the 
fingers  with  the  hand  then  represents  the  anterior  angle  of 
attachment  of  the  vocal  bands,  the  so-called  anterior 
commissure,  (Fig.  xvi,  i).  Supposing  the  fingers  to  be  of  the 
same  length,  the  finger-nails  would  represent  the  place  of  pos- 
terior attachment,  viz.,  the  posterior  vocal  processes  ;  let  these 
be  moved  apart  as  far  as  possible  and  we  have  the  position  of 
greatest  abduction  something  like  that  represented  in  Fig.  xvii 
the  more  these  are  brought  together  or  adducted,  the  more 
nearly  parallel  the  fingers  become  and,  of  course,  the  more 
narrow  becomes  the  space  between  them,  representative  of  the 
rima  glottidis. 

You  know  musical  cords  or  strings,  as  those  of  the  guitar, 
violin,  etc.,  are  attached  only  at  their  two  ends,  so  that  they 
can  freely  vibrate  between  ;  the  tongues  or  reeds  of  organs, 
accordeons,  clarionettes  and  all  other  artificial  reed  instru- 
ments, are  usually  attached  at  one  end  only,  so  that  they  have 
three  free  edges  ;  but  the  human  reeds  or  vocal  bands  are 
attached  on  three  sides  and  have  only  one  free  edge.     Those 


THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS.  39 

of  you  who  know  what  a  large  number  of  reed  or  organ  pipes 
are  needed  in  the  organ  made  by  man,  to  produce  the  notes  of 
varying  pilch  and  timbre,  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  aston- 
ishment at  the  fact  that  in  the  organ  in  man's  body  a  single 
reed-pipe,  the  larynx — by  a  wonderful  power  of  variation  in- 
herent in  itself — suffices  for  the  production  of  the  most  various 
sounds.  No  musical  instrument  has  ever  been  constructed  by 
man  that  approaches  in  perfection  or  effectiveness  that  of  the 
human  voice. 

Now,  there  is  hardly  any  subject  on  which  physiologists  have 
differed  more  than  they  have,  until  recently,  on  the  precise  pro- 
duction of  the  voice.  At  the  present  day,  however,  it  is  per- 
fectly understood  and  this  is  principally  due  to  the  introduction, 
about  twenty  years  ago,  of  an  instrument  by  which  Ave  can 
watch  the  whole  process  in  living  working  order.  This  instru- 
ment is  called  the  laryngoscope.  The  introduction  of  the 
laryngoscope  we  owe  in  the  first  place  to  the  observations  upon 
himself  of  the  celebrated  singing  teacher  Garcia,  now  living  in 
London,  and  in  the  second  place,  to  the  independent  investiga- 
tions of  two  Austrian  physicians,  Turck  and  Czermak. 

I  doubt  not,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  will  be  astonished 
when  I  make  you  acquainted  with  the  wonderful  instrument,  by 
the  aid  of  which  we  can  see  and  touch  interior  portions  of  the 
body  that  were  heretofore  impenetrably  veiled  from  mortal 
gaze.  This  instrument  has  entirely  revolutionized  human 
knowledge  of  the  throat  in  health  and  in  disease.  Its  intro- 
duction is  unquestionably  '*  the  most  important  improvement 
recently  made  in  practical  medicine."  It  has  frequently  ena- 
bled us  to   relieve   suffering,  to  save  life,   to    remove   tumors 


40 


THE  THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


which  were  the  threatening  yet 
unsuspected  sources  of  sud- 
den death,  and  to  effect  the 
miracle  of  making  ''the  deaf 
to  hear,  and  the  dumb  to 
speak."  Yet  the  instrument 
and  its  employment  are  ex- 
ceedingly simple.  The  essen- 
tial apparatus  is  only  a  little 
looking-glass  (see  Fig.  xii). 
In  the  words  of  Czermak,  "  a 
small  flat  mirror,  having  a  long 
stem  and  being  previously 
warmed,  to  prevent  its  being 
tarnished  by  the  breath,  is  in- 
troduced into  the  mouth,  wide- 
ly open,  as  far  as  its  back 
part.  It  is  then  held  up  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  permit 
rays  of  light  to  fall  upon  it,  to 
illuminate  on  the  one  hand  the 
parts  to  be  examined,  and,  on 
the  other,  to  reflect  the  images 
of  those  parts  into  the  eye  of  the 
observer."  (see  Fig.  xiii)  The 
warming  of  the  little  mirror  is  a 
Fig.    XII.— Laryngeal   mirror,   necessary  procedure,  because 

ONE-HALF     OF    ACTUAL     DIMENSIONS  ; 

AND  THREE  MIRROR  SURFACES  OF  ACT-  the  moistuTc  of  the  cxpiratory 
^^^^'  breath     otherwise     condenses 


THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


41 


upon  it  and  dims  its  surface  ;  it  is  therefore  dipped  into  water 
of  the  proper  temperature  and  then  dried,  or  better  still,  is 
warmed  over  a  flame.  In  the  latter  case,  as  I  pointed  out 
many  years  ago,  a  film  first  gathers  upon  the  mirroring  surface, 
then  clears  away,  and  this  is  just  when  the  mirror  is  ready  for 
use ;  neither  too  cold  to  be  dimmed  nor  too  hot  to  be  unpleas- 
ant to  the  throat. 

The  manner  in  which  reflection  in  the  mirror  enables  us  to 
inspect  the  interior  of  the  larynx  may  be  illustrated  by  placing 


Fig,  XIII. — Manner  of  holding  the  tongue  and  the   laryngeal 

MIRROR. 


42  THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

the  thumb  belnnd  the  closely  approximated  fingers  of  the 
hand  ;  a  beholder  from  the  front  cannot  see  the  thumb-nail, 
although  he  can  look  in  a  liorizontal  direction  beyond  the 
hand  ;  but  by  means  of  the  mirror  held  obliquely  above  it,  the 
thumb-nail  is  readily  brought  into  view.  In  the  same  way,  on 
looking  directly  into  the  throat,  we  can  see  only  in  a  hori- 
zontal direction  ;  but  by  means  of  the  little  mirror  we  can  look 
"round  the  corner,"  or  in  a  vertical  direction,  down  into  the 
windpipe.  This  is  on  the  same  principle  as  that  of  which  some 
ladies  avail  themselves  who  have  a  mirror  placed  on  the  outside 
of  the  front  window  upstairs,  to  reflect  the  image  of  the  street 
into  the  room,  so  that  they  can  see  who  passes  and  who  rings 
the  bell,  and  be  "at  home"  or  "out,"  as  they  may  please  to 
instruct  the  servant,  without  danger  of  being  themselves  seen. 

When  we  cannot  sufficiently  illuminate  the  mouth  by  the  di- 
rect rays  of  the  sun  or  other  light,  we  must  reflect  light  into  the 
cavity.  This  is  done  by  a  concave  mirror,  ind  thus  our  laryn- 
goscope is  complete.  I  have  combined  these  mirrors  into  a 
simple  and  efficient  instrument  for  practical  purposes,  which  is 
known  in  the  profession  as  "  Elsberg's  pocket  lar)'ngoscope." 

I  have  also  had  constructed  a  complete  apparatus  for  arti- 
ficial illumination,  admitting  of  being  attached  to  a  gas — pre- 
ferably argand  burner — drop  light,  a  so-called  German  student 
lamp,  or  any  other  convenient  lamp  (see  Fig.  xiv),  which  is  a 
modification  of  Tobold's  laryngoscopic  arrangement. 

Every  singing  teacher  and  elocutionist  ought  to  practice  the 
method  of  laryngoscopy.  To  physicians,  called  upon  to  treat 
diseases  of  the  throat,  it  is  indispensible  ;  although  I  cannot 
denv  that  there  are  some  who  have  failed  to  make  themselves 


THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNXTIOXS. 


43 


Fig.  XIV. — Manner  of  using  the  complete  i_\ryngoscopic  apparatus. 
sufficiently  familiar  with  it.  In  abnormal  conditions,  obstacles 
sometimes  present  themselves,  making  a  thorough  inspection 
difficult  ;  but  ordinarily,  in  health,  it  is  so  easily  accomplished 
that  no  one  interested,  professionally  or  as  an  amateur,  in  the 
cultivation  or  proper  use  of  the  voice  for  either  singing  or 
speaking,  need  to  forego  the  important  information  and  the 
indescribably  great  satisfaction  which  it  grants.  Any  intelli- 
gent person,  with  an  expenditure  of  less  than  an  hour's  time, 
and  not  much  more   than   a  dollar  in  money  for  the  purchase 


44  THE  THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

of  a  laryngoscopic  mirror,  may  learn  to  inspect  his  own  or 
another's  larynx.  The  little  mirror  introduced  into  the  mouth 
as  shown  in  Fig.  xiii  is  the  only  essential  apparatus  needed  to 
examine  some  one  else  ;  to  look  at  one's  self,  one  needs,  of 
course,  in  addition  a  larger  mirror,  to  reflect  the  image  of  the 
smaller  one.  In  Fig.  xii  are  represented  the  actual  sizes  of  the 
mirrors  I  ordinarily  employ  ;  the  smallest  usually  for  children. 
The  larger  the  mirror  which  the  throat  is  taught  to  tolerate,  the 
more  light  it  throws  upon  the  part,  and  the  more  complete  is 
the  image  obtained.  Over-sensitivensss  of  the  throat  may  be 
overcome  by  touching  frequently  the  various  portions  of  it  with 
my  "throat  educator,"  made  of  wood  or  hard  rubber,  (Fig.  xv). 


Fig.  XV. — Throat  educator,  oxE-iLAiF  actual  size. 

Suppose  you  are  standing  or  sitting  with  your  back  to 
a  window,  through  which  the  sun-light  enters,  with  a 
looking-glass  in  front  of  you  so  arranged  that  you  see  the  illu- 
minated interior  of  your  widely  opened  mouth.  If  then,  i,) 
you  protrude  and  either  with  your  will-power  alone  or  with 
this  combined  with  the  thumb  and  index  finger  of  one  hand 
covered  by  a  handkerchief  (as  is  shown  in  Fig.  xiii),  hold  the 
tongue  out  and  downward,  while  it  is  made  to  lie  as  flat  as 
possible  on  the  floor  of  the  mouth  ;  and  2,)  you  introduce  with 
the  other  hand  the  Httle  mirror,  previously  (as  I  have  already 
described  to  you)  warmed,  and  rest  its  back  against  the  uvula, 
at  the  same  time  that,  breathing  quietly  and  deeply,  you   utter 


THE   THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


45 


with  each  expiration  a  high-pitched  sound  "ai  "  (as  in  the  word 
fair)  ;  you  will,  provided  you  depress  or  raise  the  handle  of 
the  mirror,  or  turn  it  a  little  more  to  one  side  or  the  other,  as 
may  be  required,  see  the  image  of  your  larynx. 

"  If  at  first  you  don't  succeed,  try,  try  again."     If  you  can 


9  8  i8 

Fig.  XVI.     Image   of   the   larynx   and   surrounding   parts,  twice 

THE   actual    size. 

I,  Base  of  the  tongue  ;  2,  epiglottic  fraenum  or  middle 
glosso-epiglottic  ligament ;  3,  vallecula  ;  4,  epiglottis ; 
5,  cushion  of  the  epiglottis  ;  6,  lateral  glosso-epiglottic 
ligament  ;  7,  anterior  and  8,  posterior  commissure  of 
the  larynx  ;  9,  rima  glottidis  ;  10,  vocal  band  ;  u,  ven- 
tricular fold;  12,  ventricle  ;  13,  posterior  vocal  process; 
14,  arytenoid  cartilage  ;  15,  supra-arytenoid  cartilage; 
16,  cuneiform  cartilage  ;  17,  ary-epiglottic  fold  ;  18,  pos- 
terior laryngeal  wall,  entrance  to  the  oesophagus  ;  19,  pyri- 
form  sinus  ;  20,  hyoid  fold  of  mucous  membrane. 


46  THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

get  some  one  who  has  already  had  some  experience  in  laryngo- 
scopy (literally,  the  inspection  of  the  larynx)  to  show  you  the 
image  of  his  or  of  your  own  throat,  you  will  learn  the  method 
very  much  more  easily  ;  but  if  you  must  be  your  own  teacher, 
you  will  certainly  acquire  it  by  carefully  repeated  examinations 
of  your  own  and  some  one  else's  throat.  To  examine  another 
by  direct  sunlight,  you  can  dispense  with  the  looking-glass  and 
put  him  in  the  place  of  it  (of  course  guarding  his  eyes  from 
the  sun's  rays  if  they  prove  annoying).  But  it  is  pleasanter  to 
examine  with  reflected  light.  To  do  this  most  simply,  use  my 
pocket  laryngoscope  which,  being  provided  with  a  plane  glass 
reflector,  one  concave  one  of  short  focal  distance  and  another 
concave  one  of  longer  focal  distance,  held  in  the  hand  or 
attached  either  to  the  handle  of  the  mirror  or  by  means  of  a 
band  or  spectacle-frame  to  the  forehead,  is  adapted  to  either 
sunshine,  diffuse  daylight  or  an  artificial  light.  To  use  the 
complete  laryngoscopic  apparatus  (see  Fig.  xiv)  seat  the  person 
to  be  examined  opposite  to  you  in  such  a  way  that  his  right 
elbow  can  rest  upon  the  edge  of  the  table  on  which  the  lamp 
carrying  the  apparatus  is  placed.  The  centre  of  the  illu- 
minating rays,  your  own  eye  and  the  patient's  mouth  must 
be  on  about  a  level.  To  examine  your  own  throat  with 
the  same  apparatus,  take  the  place  of  the  person  to  be  ex- 
amined and  place  a  looking-glass  where  your  own  eye  was 
before. 

Sometimes  you  can  see  through  the  open  vocal  chink  into 
the  windpipe  ;  sometimes  as  low  down  as  the  bronchi,  as 
exhibited  in  Fig.  xvii. 


THE   THROAT   AND    ITS    FUNCTIONS. 


47 


Fig.  XVII.     laryngoscopic  image  showing  the  bifurcation  of  the 

TRACHEA, 

r,  ton^e;  e,  epiglottis;  ec,  cushion  of  the  epiglottis; 
vb,  vocal  band ;  vf,  ventricular  fold  ;  tM,  ventricle  of  the 
larynx  ;  tr,  trachea  ;  br  and  Fr\  right  and  left  bronchi. 

The  following  three  pictures  represent  cases  of  disease. 
The  first  (Fig.  xviii)  shows  the  vocal  bands  of  a  lady  with  a 


Fig.  XVIII.     Larynx  of  patient  with  double  voice. 

double  voice,  that  is  each  sound  of  her  ordinary  conversational 
voice,  and  still  more  each  note  that  she  attempted  to  sing,  was 


48 


THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


accompanied  by  a  deeper,  man-like  sound,  varying  on  the 
descending  scale  from  being  a  second  to  a  major  third,  or  even 
a  fourth  or  discordant  sixth,  of  the  higher  one.  The  second 
picture  (Fig.  xix)  shows  the  development  in  the  vocal  bands  of 
a  disease  which  is  exceedingly  common  in  this  country  in  the 
eyelids,  namely,  trachoma  or  chronic  granulations. 


Fig.  xix.     Trachoma  of  the  vocal  bands. 

The  third  picture  (Fig.  xx)  shows  the  condition  of  the 
larynx  of  a  young  lady  who  had  lost  her  voice  completely  for 
yearSy  as  a  single  look  at  the  immense  growth  filling  up  the 
whole  space  will  easilv  make  vou  understand. 


Fig.  XX.     Tumor  growth  in  the  larynx. 


THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS.  49 

None  of  these  diseases  could  have  been  recognized,  much 
less  properly  treated,  without  the  aid  of  the  seemingly  insig- 
nifioant,  but  really  in  its  achievements  grand  and  glorious 
apparatus,  the  little  looking-glass.  Death  would  inevitably 
have  soon  overtaken,  for  instance,  the  growth  of  this  tumor, 
then  only  might  it  perhaps  have  been  revealed.  The  laryn- 
goscope enabled  me  to  see  it  during  life,  to  remove  it  and 
to  cure  the  patient,  who  is  probably  in  the  audience  this 
evening 


Now  we  come  to  the  question  :  "  How  does  the  throat 
enable   us   to   talk    and   to   sing  ? " 

When  any  vocal  sound  is  to  be  produced,  no  matter  what 
is  to  be  its  loudness,  pitch,  quality  or  character  in  any  respect, 
the  vocal  bands  are  made  to  approach  each  other  ;  the  air, 
expelled  from  the  lungs,  strikes  against  them  from  below  and 
drives  them  upward  ;  some  air  escapes,  and  the  vocal  bands, 
being  very  elastic,  descend  down  to  and  below  their  previous 
level,  then  they  go  up  again,  and  continue  for  a  time  to 
oscillate  upward  and  downward.  This  up-and-down  motion 
or  vibration,  occurring  with  appropriate  frequency,  is  per- 
ceived as  sound.  Wherever  there  is  such  vibratory  motion, 
there  is  sound,  and  wherever  there  is  sound  there  is  such 
vibratory  motion.  The  statement  that  "  sound  "  and  '*  a  par- 
ticular mode  of  motion  "  are  identical — one  and  the  same 
thing — I  shall  try  to  make  clear  to  you.  Often  the  vibrations 
of  a  sounding  body  can  be  seen,  as  for  instance  those  of  a 
tensioned  string  like  that  of  a  guitar  or  violin  :  if  I  pluck  the 


50  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

string  of  this  monochord  to  one  side,  it  rebounds  and  the 
vibrations  constitute  a  sound.  So  far  as  our  ear  is  concerned, 
the  vibrations  to  be  heard  must  occur  at  least  sixteen  times  in 
a  second,  and  not  over  38,000  times. 

The  number  of  proofs  and  illustrations  that  can  be  given 
that  sound  is  really  nothing  but  to-and-fro  motion  witliin  the 
limits  indicated,  is  inexhaustible,  but  a  few  striking  ones  will 
suffice. 

A  tuning-fork  can  be  made  to  give  evidence  on  this  point 
that  is  unmistakable  and  convincing.  I  have  attached  a  little 
metallic  pin  to  this  tuning-fork  (Fig.  xxi)  in  such  a  way  that 


Fig.  xxi.     Autograph  of  a  sounding  tuning-fork. 

if  I  draw  it  across  this  paper,  it  will  make  a  straight  line  ;  but 
the  moment  the  tuning-fork  is  made  to  emit  a  sound,  the  line 
becomes  a  wavy  one,  thus  testifying  to  the  to-and-fro  motion 
of  the  prong.  In  order  that  this  evidence  may  appeal  co  all  of 
you,  I  will  have  this  experiment  repeated,  and  the  line,  made 
by  a  sounding  tuning-fork  on  smoked  glass,  thrown  upon  the 
screen. 

You  shall  now  have  a  proof  that  the  sound  of  the  human 
voice  is  vibratory  motion  also.  I  have  here  a  glass  tube  closed 
at  one  end  by  a  thin  membrane  carrying  a  little  piece  of  look- 
ing-glass, the  image  of  which  can  be  thrown  up  on  the  screen. 
On  speaking  into  the   other  end  of   the  tube,  the  vibrations  of 


THE   THROAT   AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS.  5 1 

tne  air  communicated  to  the  membrane  will  make  the  little 
mirror  move  as  you  now  see  on  the  screen. 

These  experiments,  which  had  been  known  a  long  time,  sug- 
gested, about  twenty  years  ago,  to  the  Englishman  Scott,  the 
invention  of  an  instrument  which  he  called  "  phonograph  "  or 
"sound  writer."  This  instrument,  a  little  modified  and  per- 
fected by  the  accoustical  instrument  maker,  Koenig,  of  Paris, 
I  have  here  to  show  you. 

Here  is  a  hollow  truncated  tone,  at  the  smaller  extremity  of 
which  a  membrane  with  a  writing  pen  is  attached  in  such  a 
way  that  it  can  be  brought  near  to  a  revolving  cylinder  upon 
which  smoked  paper  is  rolled.  On  speaking  into  the  cone, 
the  membrane  and  pin  are  moved  to  make  impressions  upon 
the  smoked  paper,  just  as  in  the  two  experiments  seen  on  the 
screen. 

1  have  shown  you  that  wherever  we  produce  sound,  we  have 
a  vibratory  or  to-and-fro  motion.  Now  I  will  prove  to  you 
that  wherever  we  produce  a  rocking  or  to-and-fro  movement, 
repeated  with  proper  rapidity,  we  have  sound. 


Fig.  XXII. — Singing  bar  of  copper  placed  on  block  of  lead. 

Here  is  a  block  of  lead  upon  which  I  place  this  heated  bar 
of  copper.  At  the  point  where  the  hot  copper  touches  the 
lead,  this  becomes  heated  and  expands,  tilting  the  bar  away ; 
the  bar  then  touches  the  other  side  of  the  lead  and  is  pushed 


52  THE   THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

away,  falling  back  upon  the  first  side  ;  is  tilted  again,  and  so 
on.  Thus  a  rocking  or  to-and-fro  movement  results  which 
you  hear  as  a  singing  sound. 

I  cannot  conceive  of  a  more  convincing  proof  that  sound  is 
a  mode  of  motion,  except  one  other  proof,  which  I  will  give 
you  at  the  end  of  the  lecture. 

It  is  clear  then  that  the  up  and  down  movement  of  the  vocal 
bands  produces  a  sound  ,  but  that  alone  does  not  constitute 
the  voice.  The  up-and-down  movement  of  the  vocal  bands 
sets  the  column  of  air  to  dancing  up  and  down  ;  the  sound  of 
these  vibrations  combines  with  that  of  the  bands,  and  the 
sound  of  these  combined  vibrations,  made  more  intense,  mixed 
with  various  noises  and  changed  in  timbre  in  the  passage  of 
the  air  outward,  through  the  mouth  and  nose,  constitutes  the 
voice.  The  sound  of  a  column  of  air  thrown  into  dancing  or 
vibratory  movement  is  easily  illustrated  in  a  glass  tube  or  in 
any  flue  organ  pipe. 

As  I  have  here  two  organ  pipes  tuned  alike,  I  can  demonstrate 
to  you  a  very  interesting  acoustic  phenomenon,  although,  it  does 
not  exactly  belong  to  the  subject.  I  refer  to  the  production 
of  musical  beats.  Both  of  these  pipes  give  the  sound  of  middle 
C,  of  256  vibration,  i.e.,  when  I  throw  the  air  in  each  into 
vibrations  by  means  of  the  bellows,  the  air  makes  256  vibra- 
tory movements  in  a  second.  By  a  little  slide-valve  arrange- 
ment here,  I  can  change  the  rate  of  vibration,  as  I  now  do,  of 
one  of  these  pipes. 

One  of  these  pipes  makes  a  few  vibrations  more  than  256  in 
a  second,  and  the  difference  between  them  you  hear  as  beats. 
(Consider  this  experiment  done  in  parenthesis,  but  it  is  really 


THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS.  53 

very  instructive,  and   is  the  foundation  for  understanding  the 
whole  subjecc  of  musical  harmony  and  dissonance). 

If  you  will  have  the  patience  to  hear  how  the  throat  and 
adjacent  assistant  organs  of  voice  and  speech  produce  the 
variations  of  loudness  of  pitch,  of  timbre  and  of  vowel  and 
consonant  sounds,  I  will  tell  you  briefly  : 

1.  Differences  in  loudness  are  mainly  produced  by  differ- 
ences in  strength  of  the  air  current  that  is  thrown  against  the 
vocal  bands  ;  by  this  means  the  distance  or  space  through 
which  they  swing  up  and  down  is  made  to  become  more  or  less 
extensive.  You  will  readily  understand  how  on  this  extent  of 
swing  (or  amplitude  of  the  vibration)  intensity  of  sound  de- 
pends. If  I  pluck  this  tensioned  string  of  the  monochord 
only  a  little  out  of  its  state  of  rest,  the  extent  of  its  to-and-fro 
movement,  or  the  amplitude  of  vibration,  will  be  little,  and 
therefore  the  sound  not  loud  ;  but  if  I  increase  the  extent  of 
swing,  the  sound  will  be  louder. 

Again,  if  in  this  bell,  the  sound  of  which  is  made  by  the 
particles  of  metal  moving  in  and  out,  I  tap  the  surface  gently, 
the  particles  move  only  a  small  distance  in  and  out,  but  if  I 
strike  it  hard,  the  extent  of  their  swing  is  larger,  and  conse- 
quently the  sound  is  louder  in  this  case  than  in  the  former. 

2.  Differences  of  pitch  depend  on  differences  of  the  num- 
ber of  vibrations  that  occur  in  a  given  space  of  time.  The 
more  numerous  they  are  in  a  second,  the  higher  is  the  pitch  ; 
the  fewer  the  vibrations  that  occur  in  a  second,  the  lower  or 
graver  the  sound  is. 

I  hold  a  card  against  a  revolving  toothed  wheel  (see  Fig. 
xxiii),  and  the  faster  it  turns,  i.e.,  the  more   taps   occur  in  a 


54 


THE   THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNCTIONS. 


second,  the  higher  is  the  sound.    If  I  lessen  the  speed  the  pitch 

falls,  and  if  it  turns  very  slowly  you  can 
hear  the  separate  taps. 

The  siren  is  an  instrument  with  which 
we  can  count  the  taps  or  vibrations. 
Essentially,  it  consists  of  a  perforated 
disk  against  one  or  more  holes  of  which 
a  current  of  air  is  blown  (see  Fig.  xxiv). 
As  an  indicator  shows  the  number  of 
holes  through  which  tlie  air  passes  and 
the  rate  of  revolution  of  the  disk,  you 
can  easily  determine  the  number  of  vi- 
brations of  any  sound  it  makes. 

In  the  case  of  the  tuning-fork  that 
wrote  its  autograph  or  phonograph  for 

you,  all  that  you  would  have   had  to  do   to  find  out  the  pitch, 


Fig.    XXIII.— Card 

HELD   AGAINST  REVOLV- 
ING  TOOTHED    WHEEL. 


Fig.  xxiv.     Simplest  form  of  the  siren. 


THE   THROAT  AND    ITS   FUN'CTIOXS.  55 

would  have  been  to  note  the  time  it  took  to  write  the  line 
and  to  count  the  number  of  angles  or  points  in  it.  In  the 
particular  one  I  used,  there  were  forty-eight  points  made  in 
a  quarter  of  a  second  ;  therefore  the  sound  of  the  tuning-fork 
is  one  of  192  vibrations  in  a  second,  or  a  tenor  G. 

In  chords,  pitch  varies  with  the  degree  of  tension  and  the 
length — the  more  tense  the  string  is,  the  higher  is  the  sound  ; 
the  less  tense,  the  lower  ;  and  the  shorter  the  string  is,  the 
higher  the  pitch  ;  the  longer,  the  lower. 

In  the  vocal  bands  the  variations  of  pitch  are  produced  by 
changes  of  tension,  of  length,  of  breadth  and  shape,  and  of 
expiratory  force.  Some  persons  avail  themselves  of  some  of 
these  co-acting  factors  to  the  exclusion  of  one  or  several  of 
them  ;  some  persons  use  different  mechanisms  under  different 
circumstances  ;  some  persons  use  prominently  a  factor  which 
is  not  at  all  or  but  slightly  used  by  others.  The  divergence 
of  the  views  of  several  equally  good  observers  as  to  how  difter- 
ent  variations  of  pitch  are  brought  about,  is  doubtless  due  to 
this  fact, — a  fact  entirely  ignored  by  all  scientific  and  lay  writ- 
ers on  this  subject.* 

The  lowest  C  on  the  piano  is  a  sound  of  32  or  ^;^  vibrations' 
and  the  highest  C  one  of  over  4,000  vibrations  in  a  second  :  a 
compass  of  7  octaves,  and  most  pianos  have  still  a  few  notes 
more.  The  range  of  the  voice  differs  considerably  in  different 
individuals  ;  commonly  it  is  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than 
2j4  octaves  ;  in  some  great  singers  it  extends  to  3  and  even  3^ 

*  Since  the  public  deliver)'  of  this  lecture,  a  book  has  been  published  in 
which  this  fact  has  been  recognized,  viz.,  Physiolo^e  der  Stimme  und 
Sprache.  Von  Dr.  P.  Grutzner,  Hkrmann's  Band-Buck  der  Fhy:iologi4^ 
vol.  I,  part  ii.     Leipzig,  1S79,  p.  112. 


56  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS  FUNCTIONS. 

octaves.  The  entire  compass  of  the  human  voice  exceeds  5 
octaves,  for  there  have  been  bassos  as  Grosser,  Fischer,  etc., 
who  could  sing  the  contra  F  of  40  vibrations  with  ease  and 
power,  and  sopranos  like  Carlotta  Patti  and  Christine  Nilsson 
go  up  with  ease  to  the  high  F  of  1,400  vibrations,  while  the 
"  Bastardeila  "  and  Mrs.  Becker  of  St.  Petersburgh  could  go  up 
to  and  beyond  the  still  higher  C  of  2,000  vibrations. 

3.  Timbre  depends  on  the  number  and  relative  intensity 
of  component  tones  mixed  with  the  fundamental  tone.  This  is 
the  great  discovery  of  Helmholtz  who  has  invented  a  means  of 
analyzing  sounds  by  so-called  resonators.     (See  Fig.  xxv.)     I 


Fig.  xxv.     Helmholtz's  resonators. 

have  no  time  this  evening  to  enter  into  details  on  this  subject. 
It  must  suffice  to  say  that  by  simply  placing  one  of  ihese  reso- 
nators or  analyzers  into  your  ear,  you  can  find  out  whether  the 
tone  to  which  it  is  attuned,  is  present  or  not  in  a  mass  of 
sounds ;  and,  that  it  has  thus  been  discovered  that  every  ordi- 
nary sound  of  nature  is  a  composite  one,  consisting  of  a  funda- 
mental tone,  and  a  varying  number  of  other  tones  variously 
mixed  with  this  fundamental  tone.  If  Helmholtz  had  accom- 
plished nothing  in  science  except  this  invention  and  this  dis- 
covery, his  name  would  nevertheless  forever  shine  in  immortal 
glory  I 

Varieties  of  timbre  of  the  human  voice  are  brought  about  by 


THE  THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS.  57 

variations  of  the  form  of  vibration  of  the  vocal  bands  and  by 
varying  resonance,  or  co- sounding,  of  adjunct  cavities. 

4.  If  the  sounding  breath  is  not  obstructed  in  its  outward 
passage  from  the  larynx,  a  vowel  results.  In  this  case,  the  cavi- 
ties of  the  throat,  mouth  and  nose,  act  simply  as  the  resonance 
pipe  of  the  organ. 

When  the  nasal  cavity  takes  a  particular  part  in  this  reson- 
ance, the  vowel  is  nazalized  ;  otherwise  the  vowel  is  pure. 
Variations  in  the  relative  size  and  form  of  the  co-sounding 
cavities,  especially  of  the  mouth,  produce  changes  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  vowel  sounds  as  ah^  a,  e,  0,  00.  I  have  placed 
those  of  the  English  language  upon  a  large  chart. 

To  form  a  consonant  sound,  the  outward  motion  of  the  air  is 
obstructed  by  a  partial  or  complete  contact  of  parts  of  the 
mouth  and  throat,  the  degree  of  obstruction  varying  from  the 
slightest  narrowing  of  the  channel  to  an  entire  stoppage.  There 
are  some  consonants  which  do  not  require  the  laryngeal  voice 
at  all,  bat  are  produced  entirely  by  sonorous  vibrations  origi- 
nating in  the  mouth  and  throat.  We  may  therefore  divide  all 
the  sounds  of  speech  into  two  classes  :  (first)  intoned,  which 
originate  in  the  specific  vocal  organ,  the  vocal  bands,  and  in- 
clude all  the  vowels  and  a  majority  of  consonants  ;  and  (second) 
unintoned,  embracing  the  consonants  formed  by  the  mouth  and 
throat  alone,  in  the  production  of  which  the  larynx  plays  the 
part  of  air-conveying  tube  simply.  According  to  the  parts  of 
the  mouth  and  throat,  by  the  approach  or  contact  of  which  the 
consonant  sounds  are  formed,  we  may  distinguish  three  classes 
of  sounds,  namely  :  first,  labials,  formed  in  the  first  articulating 
region — the  lips  :  second,  dento-linguals,  formed  in  the  second 


58  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

articulating  region,  namely,  the  teeth,  tip  of  tongue  and  anterior 
part  of  hard  palate  ;  and  third,  palato-giitterals^  formed  in  the 
third  articulating  region,  namely,  the  root  of  the  tongue,  pos- 
terior part  of  hard  palate,  soft  palate  and  pharynx. 

Analogous  to  the  vowels,  we  have  pure  and  nasalized  conso- 
nants. In  the  pure  consonants,  as  in  pure  vowels,  the  nasal 
valve  is  raised  and  closed.  The  nasalized  consonant  sounds 
have  been  called  resonants.  Here  the  nasal  valve  is  lowered 
and  open  ;  they  are  ;;/,  n,  ng.  In  this  diagram  I  show  you  a 
schema  of  the  three  regions  of  articulation  and  a  view  of  the 
consonants  formed  in  each.  The  mechanism  of  m  and/  is  the 
most  simple.  The  child,  even  the  deaf  from  birth,  learns  to 
make  these  sounds  most  easily.  You  may  observe  in  the  chart 
that  the  main  difference  in  the  organs  of  speech  between  these 
two  consists  in  the  open  or  closed  condition  of  the  nasal  valve. 
They  are  formed  in  the  first  region  of  articulation — the  lips  ; 
and  the  other  organs  are  but  little  different  from  their  natural 
position  at  rest.  The  lips  need  only  to  close  and  then  to  open 
to  expel  the  air  ;  /  will  be  heard  when  the  nasal  valve  is 
closed,  and  m,  when  it  is  open. 

The  imitation  of  the  words  "papa"  and  "mama"  in  speak- 
ing dolls,  is  produced  by  a  mechanism   which  I  here   show 

you. 

Many  more  serious  attempts  have  been  made  to  produce 
artificially  the  sounds  of  human  speech.  The  earliest  was  that 
of  Kratzenstein  just  one  hundred  years  ago.  He  was  followed 
as  to  an  apparatus  producing  vowel  sounds  by  Willis,  and  more 
recently  by  Helmholtz. 

More    complete    talking    machines    were     constructed    by 


THE   THROAT   AND    ITS   FUNXTIONS.  59 

Kempelen  and  by  Faber.  Faber's  talking  machine  was  brought 
to  this  cily  about  eight  years  ago,  and  for  several  years  was  ex- 
hibited in  various  parts  of  the  country  by  a  nephew  of  the 
original  inventor,  Joseph  Faber,  of  Vienna.  It  imitates  the 
human  voice  and  speech  organ  in  its  construction,  and  being 
worked  by  means  of  a  bellows  and  finger  board,  it  can  produce 
words  and  sentences  in  several  languages  with  varying  degrees 
of  loudness,  even  to  whispering,  and  with  varying  pitch.  Still 
more  recently  a  machine  has  been  invented  for  reproducing 
instead  of  producing  the  human  voice.  This  is  the  phonograph 
devised  by  Thomas  A.  Edison.  Edison's  phonograph  differs 
from  the  phonographs  I  have  described  to  you  essentially  in 
this,  that  instead  of  smoked  paper  or  smoked  glass,  tin-foil  is 
used  for  receiving  the  impressions  made  by  the  writing  pin. 
The  cylinder  on  which  the  tin-foil  is  placed,  is  grooved,  and  the 
metallic  pin  pressing  against  it,  when  moved  by  the  membrane, 
makes  permanent  indentations  in  the  tin-foil.  //  occurred  to 
Edison  [and  it  is  this  that  marks  the  difference  between  men 
of  genius  and  us  common  mortals,  that  all  sorts  of  wonderful 
and  unheard-of  things,  though  they  be  really  as  simple  as  the 
indenting  of  Columbus's  egg,  occur  to  them  and  not  to  us],  I 
say,  it  occurred  to  Edison  that  the  process  by  which  the  inden- 
tations were  made,  might  just  as  well  be  rei^ersed.  The  motions 
of  the  air,  called  voice  sounds,  had  made  the  membrane  vibrate 
that  carried  the  little  pin  that  made  the  indentations,  as  the 
tin-foil  was  passed  by.  Now,  to  reverse  the  process,  the  in- 
dented tin-foil  was  passed  by,  and  as  the  metallic  pin  maintained 
its  contact  with  the  surface  of  the  tin-foil,  it  moved,  just  as  it 
had  done   before.      The   membrane  to  which  it  was   attached 


60  THE   THROAT  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS. 

vibrated,  and  the  motions  thus  communicated  to  the  air,  were 
heard  as  sounds. 

This  is  a  proof  that  sound  is  a  mode  of  motion,  of  which  1 
said  that  it  is  still  more  convincing  than  the  singing  copper  bar 
which  I  showed  you.  You  see  that  Edison's  machine  is  more 
than  a  phonograph,  or  sound  writer  ;  it  is  really  a  reproducer 
or  regenerator  of  sound,  for  which  a  proper  name  would  be 
''^  Palingenophone.''  This  is  the  name  by  which  it  should  be- 
come known.  Hitherto  it  has  simply  been  called  a  phono- 
graph. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Johnson,  the  secretary  and 
manager  of  the  company,  that  owns  the  patents  and  manufac- 
tures the  phonograph,  or  paling  e  nop  hone,  I  am  enabled  to  intro- 
duce it  to  you  and  to  let  you  hear  it  speak  for  itself. 

The  indentations  made  on  the  tin-foil  are  not  easily  effaced, 
and  a  speech  once  recorded  can  be  repeated  a  large  number  of 
times.  The  tin-foil  may  be  put  away,  or  sent  to  any  part  of  the 
world  or  kept  for  any  number  of  years  ;  and  thus  the  luords 
and  voice  of  a  public  speaker,  a  celebrated  singer,  or  a  personal 
friend  or  relative,  alive  to-day,  may  be  heard  by  generations 
"yet  unborn." 

You  may  remember  the  beautiful  rhetorical  figure  of  *'  frozen 
music,"  and  the  story  told  by  the  Baron  Munchhausen,  of  blow- 
ing into  his  trumpet  and  the  notes  freezing,  so  that  in  a  few 
days  afterward  when  a  thaw  came  on,  the  music  was  heard. 

All  this  and  more,  Edison's  genius  has  realized. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

INFANT  DIET.  By  A.  JACOBI,  M.D,,  Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of 
ChiUhen,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York.  Revised, 
enlarged  and  adapted  for  popular  use  by  Mary  Putnam  Jacoiji,  M  D. 
i2mo,  cloth 75 

THE  QUESTION  OF  REST   FOR   WOMEN  DURING  MEN- 
STRUATION.      Being  the  Eoylston  Prize  Essay  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, for  1S76.    By  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  New  York.     Svo,  cloth^ 
with  50  Sphygmographic  Traces  showing  variations  in  Arterial  Tension, 
and  tables  giving  results  of  250  Urea  Analyses  of  Urine,  .         .     $3  00 
"  This  remarkable  essay  will  command  the  earnest  attention  of  not  only  physiolo 
gists,  but  those  interested  in  the  social  advance  and  higher  culture  of  women.     Based  on 
a  wide  range  of  observation,    experiment,   and   new   statistics,  the  ad  "-iplished  author 
subjects  her  material  to  a  searching  analysis,  and  brings  forward  a  series  of  original  pro- 
positions, regarding  the  sexual  accidents  of  women,  admirably  stated  and  ably  defended. 
— Phila.  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 

SANITARY  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  DWELLINGS.  Intended 
for  the  use  of  Officers  of  Health,  Architects,  Builders,  and  Household- 
ers.    By  William  Eassie.     Svo,  with  numerous  plates,  cloth  extra. 

$2  25 

A  MANUAL  OF  PUBLIC  HEALTH.  For  the  use  of  Local  Author- 
ities, Medical  Officers  of  Health,  and  others.  By  W.  H.  Michael, 
F.C.S.  ;W.  H.  CoRFiELD,  M.D.  ;  and  J.  A.  Wanklyn,  M.R.C.S. 
Edited  by  Ernest  Hart.     Svo,  cloth,         ,         .        .        .        $5  00 

A  CENTURY  OF  NURSING.  With  Hints  Towards  the  Organi- 
zation of  a  Training  School.  Published  for  "  The  State  Charities 
Aid  Association. "     Svo,  paper,         , 50 

HAND-BOOK  FOR  HOSPITAL  VISITORS.  Published  for  "  The 
State  Charities  Aid  Association."     i6mo,  cloth,        ...  50 

HAND  BOOK  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE  POOR-HOUSE.  Pub- 
lished for  "  The  State  Charities  Aid  Association."  i6mo,  paper  and 
flexible  cloth, 50 

TEMPERATURE  CHARTS,  for  the  use  of  Physicians  and  Nurses. 
Bound  up  in  volumes  containing  50  each.     Boards,  .         .  50 

A  MANUAL  OF  THERMOMETRY,  for  Mothers,  Nurses,  Hospi- 
tals, Etc.,  and  all  who  have  charge  of  the  Sick  and  of  the  Young.  By 
E.  Seguin,  M.D.     i2mo,  cloth, 75 

***  Complete  Catalogue  forwarded  upon  application. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

Emergencies :  How  to  Avoid  Them  and  how  to  Meet  Them, 
Compiled  by  BuRT.  G.  Wilder,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology,  Cornell 
University.      Paper.        .........  15 

A  SELECTION'  FROM  THE   CONTENTS. 
Poisons  and   Antidotes ;    Envenomed   Wounds ;    Bleeding ;    Kerosene   Burns    and 
Scalds;    Lightning;   Sunstroke;    Broken  Bones;  Fainting;    Apoplexy  ;  Sea-sickness ; 
Foul  Air;  Choking;  Croup;  Diphtheria;  Convulsionr  ;  Infectious  Diseases;   Drown- 
ing ;  General  Maxims. 

"  This  valuable  little  pamphlet  should  be  in  every  house.  It  gives  the  remedies 
for  poisons,  and  the  treatment  in  a  great  variety  of  accidents." — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"  This  pocket  manual  is  worth  many  times  the  price  asked  for  it.  Every  family 
must  feel  the  need  of  some  such  helpful  little  book." — Rural  Ne-w  Yorker. 

"  This  volume  will  be  a  valuable  handbook  for  everyone." — Library  Table. 

"  It  contains  the  very  word  that  may  be  absolutely  needed,  and  no  words  that  are 
superfluous.    Everybody  should  have  one." — Watchman. 

"  Should  be  in  every  man's  pocket,  and  ought  to  be  in  every  person's  memory." — 
Boston  A  dvertiscr. 

"  Is  liable  to  prove  of  priceless  value  in  case  of  need.  The  directions  are  perfectly 
plain,  and  some  of  them  are  made  still  plainer  by  illustrations.  In  fact,  the  little  book 
is  one  that  should  be  in  every  house." — Buffalo  Courier. 

"  It  contains  directions  and  remedies  of  approved  efficacy  in  cases  of  poisoning, 
snake  and  dog  bites,  and  all  sorts  of  accidents.  It  ought  to  meet  with  a  wide  circula- 
tion, as  it  is  sufficiently  concise  and  simple  to  be  understood  by  everybody." — New 
Orleans   Times. 

"  Is  a  convenient  little  pamphlet,  full  of  wise  cautions  and  excellent  advice.  It  tells 
a  great  number  of  things  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  ought  to  know,  and  which 
some  never  learn  until  too  late." — Cinci?tnati  Journal  ^  Messenger 

Till  the  Doctor  Comes,  and  How  to  Help  Him.  By  George  H. 
Hope,  M.D.  Revised,  with  Additions,  by  a  New  York  Physician.  A 
popular  guide  in  all  cases  of  accident  or  sudden  illness.      l2mo,  cloth,  .75 

"A  most  admirable  treatise,  short,  concise,  and  practical." — IIa7-J>ers  Monthly 
(Editorial) . 

"  We  find  this  an  invaluable  little  companion,  embracing  more  information  of  use  to 
bystanders  in  time  of  sickness  or  accident  than  wc  have  ever  seen  put  together  before^ 
If  one  will  study  this  small  book  well,  put  it  in  his  pocket,  and  follow  its  directions 
carefully,  he  will  often  save  some  poor  fellow's  life,  when  a  little  delay  might  cause  its 
loss." — Athol  Transcript. 

"  A  perfect  gem  for  the  sick-room,  and  should  be  in  every  family." — Venango  S/>ec^ 
tator. 

"Indispensable  for  the  household." — Utica  Herald. 

"  This  is  a  most  valuable  little  work,  telling  just  what  to  do  in  case  of  accident,  sud- 
den misfortune  or  sickness.  It  is  well  arranged  for  reference,  and  should  be  hung  up 
in  some  handy  place  where  it  can  be  consulted  easily." — State  Journal. 

'  It  is  the  reprint  of  a  little  English  work  of  great  practical  utility,  showing  what 
may  be  done  in  case  of  accident,  or  sudden  illness,  before  the  arrival  of  ihc  physician. 
The  edition  has  been  supervised  by  a  medical  man  of  this  city,  and  will  be  found  a 
handy  book  of  reference  in  every  family." — New  York  Tribune. 


h. 


'::,kiM:t.\^. 


7^^^ 


Qf,1525 
Llsberg 


L17 


t 


W\ 


^ 


.\/  ''-■^S 

5te 

^'^^1 

% 

n 


